ZIP 01355 vs ZIP 01072

This side-by-side compares ZIP 01355 (New Salem, MA) and ZIP 01072 (Shutesbury, MA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 01355 has a population of 878 at 7 people per square mile, while ZIP 01072 has 1,478 at 28 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 01355 reports a median household income of $82,713 against $111,667 in ZIP 01072, with per-capita income of $41,088 vs $52,035. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 36.8% in 01355 and 65.5% in 01072. Poverty rate reads 10.3% vs 3.6%, and unemployment 2.0% vs 7.0% — 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 $375,000 in 01355 versus $355,100 in 01072, with median rent of $1,202 and $1,721 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 88.8% vs 90.2%. 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.