ZIP 01028 vs ZIP 01128

This side-by-side compares ZIP 01028 (East Longmeadow, MA) and ZIP 01128 (Springfield, MA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 01028 has a population of 15,720 at 469 people per square mile, while ZIP 01128 has 2,631 at 911 per square mile. That difference in population size and density alone reshapes how every other metric should be interpreted — a higher-income ZIP with 1,200 residents behaves very differently from one with 45,000.

On income and education, ZIP 01028 reports a median household income of $106,424 against $100,313 in ZIP 01128, with per-capita income of $51,215 vs $43,355. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 49.4% in 01028 and 40.3% in 01128. Poverty rate reads 3.8% vs 6.9%, and unemployment 2.9% vs 2.9% — these four fields alone drive most of the difference in the scorecard grades you will see for each ZIP.

Housing separates these two ZIPs further: median home value sits at $379,200 in 01028 versus $272,100 in 01128, with median rent of $1,337 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 86.5% vs 94.1%. When reading the comparison table below, focus on paired metrics rather than single winners — a ZIP with lower home values and lower income is not strictly "worse" if rent-to-income ratios and commute times land in the same zone. Every value is pulled from the exact same ACS table so the two columns are genuinely comparable.