ZIP 01430 vs ZIP 01431

This side-by-side compares ZIP 01430 (Ashburnham, MA) and ZIP 01431 (Ashby, MA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 01430 has a population of 6,089 at 64 people per square mile, while ZIP 01431 has 3,074 at 50 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 01430 reports a median household income of $118,683 against $115,598 in ZIP 01431, with per-capita income of $46,020 vs $57,840. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 43.6% in 01430 and 43.7% in 01431. Poverty rate reads 8.5% vs 2.6%, and unemployment 3.0% vs 4.5% — 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 $391,700 in 01430 versus $390,500 in 01431, with median rent of $1,580 and $1,200 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 95.5% vs 95.5%. 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.