ZIP 01266 vs ZIP 01236

This side-by-side compares ZIP 01266 (West Stockbridge, MA) and ZIP 01236 (Housatonic, MA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 01266 has a population of 1,463 at 22 people per square mile, while ZIP 01236 has 1,509 at 121 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 01266 reports a median household income of $100,417 against $111,250 in ZIP 01236, with per-capita income of $90,095 vs $63,109. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 68.4% in 01266 and 59.6% in 01236. Poverty rate reads 9.0% vs 5.2%, and unemployment 2.0% vs 1.9% — 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 $563,400 in 01266 versus $504,900 in 01236, with median rent of $1,603 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 91.4% vs 80.4%. 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.