ZIP 01085 vs ZIP 01040

This side-by-side compares ZIP 01085 (Westfield, MA) and ZIP 01040 (Holyoke, MA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 01085 has a population of 41,117 at 266 people per square mile, while ZIP 01040 has 39,880 at 728 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 01085 reports a median household income of $88,728 against $53,605 in ZIP 01040, with per-capita income of $42,122 vs $31,236. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 33.3% in 01085 and 25.9% in 01040. Poverty rate reads 10.5% vs 27.0%, and unemployment 3.0% vs 7.7% — 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 $326,100 in 01085 versus $274,100 in 01040, with median rent of $1,117 and $1,021 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 69.2% vs 41.3%. 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.