ZIP 01431 vs ZIP 01474

This side-by-side compares ZIP 01431 (Ashby, MA) and ZIP 01474 (West Townsend, MA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 01431 has a population of 3,074 at 50 people per square mile, while ZIP 01474 has 2,125 at 83 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 01431 reports a median household income of $115,598 against $136,371 in ZIP 01474, with per-capita income of $57,840 vs $47,993. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 43.7% in 01431 and 27.5% in 01474. Poverty rate reads 2.6% vs 9.2%, and unemployment 4.5% vs 12.5% — 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 $390,500 in 01431 versus $460,200 in 01474, with median rent of $1,200 and $2,451 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 95.5% vs 80.3%. 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.