ZIP 01226 vs ZIP 01224

This side-by-side compares ZIP 01226 (Dalton, MA) and ZIP 01224 (Berkshire, MA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 01226 has a population of 6,945 at 102 people per square mile, while ZIP 01224 has 182 at 253 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 01226 reports a median household income of $79,438 against $76,222 in ZIP 01224, with per-capita income of $48,844 vs $43,729. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 44.3% in 01226 and 34.9% in 01224. Poverty rate reads 7.4% vs 2.2%, and unemployment 7.2% 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 $295,700 in 01226 versus $275,900 in 01224, with median rent of $872 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 70.7% vs 87.6%. 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.