ZIP 01243 vs ZIP 01223

This side-by-side compares ZIP 01243 (Middlefield, MA) and ZIP 01223 (Becket, MA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 01243 has a population of 334 at 7 people per square mile, while ZIP 01223 has 2,314 at 13 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 01243 reports a median household income of $91,250 against $86,818 in ZIP 01223, with per-capita income of $59,361 vs $55,727. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 37.5% in 01243 and 42.4% in 01223. Poverty rate reads 12.7% vs 10.1%, and unemployment 4.5% vs 3.0% — 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 $292,900 in 01243 versus $363,600 in 01223, with median rent of — and $2,036 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 97.4% vs 96.9%. 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.