ZIP 01338 vs ZIP 01330

This side-by-side compares ZIP 01338 (Buckland, MA) and ZIP 01330 (Ashfield, MA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 01338 has a population of 187 at 21 people per square mile, while ZIP 01330 has 1,506 at 18 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 01338 reports a median household income of $50,521 against $83,493 in ZIP 01330, with per-capita income of $43,075 vs $49,002. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 11.5% in 01338 and 50.8% in 01330. Poverty rate reads 0.0% vs 10.2%, and unemployment 0.0% vs 4.1% — 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 $305,900 in 01338 versus $391,700 in 01330, with median rent of — and $1,093 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 91.8% vs 85.3%. 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.