ZIP 01069 vs ZIP 01079

This side-by-side compares ZIP 01069 (Palmer, MA) and ZIP 01079 (Thorndike, MA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 01069 has a population of 8,469 at 116 people per square mile, while ZIP 01079 has 692 at 238 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 01069 reports a median household income of $80,190 against $70,588 in ZIP 01079, with per-capita income of $45,908 vs $42,454. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 22.7% in 01069 and 37.7% in 01079. Poverty rate reads 8.4% vs 19.4%, and unemployment 2.9% vs 4.8% — 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 $274,000 in 01069 versus $263,400 in 01079, with median rent of $1,013 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 74.3% vs 77.4%. 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.