ZIP 01031 vs ZIP 01037

This side-by-side compares ZIP 01031 (Gilbertville, MA) and ZIP 01037 (Hardwick, MA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 01031 has a population of 1,308 at 62 people per square mile, while ZIP 01037 has 838 at 23 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 01031 reports a median household income of $60,517 against $74,722 in ZIP 01037, with per-capita income of $34,103 vs $55,155. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 24.0% in 01031 and 48.4% in 01037. Poverty rate reads 14.7% vs 7.5%, and unemployment 3.3% vs 0.0% — 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 $245,600 in 01031 versus $443,000 in 01037, with median rent of $1,175 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 53.8% vs 89.3%. 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.