ZIP 01453 vs ZIP 01564

This side-by-side compares ZIP 01453 (Leominster, MA) and ZIP 01564 (Sterling, MA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 01453 has a population of 40,883 at 554 people per square mile, while ZIP 01564 has 7,808 at 99 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 01453 reports a median household income of $84,296 against $129,063 in ZIP 01564, with per-capita income of $47,239 vs $67,107. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 33.6% in 01453 and 48.3% in 01564. Poverty rate reads 9.1% vs 6.0%, and unemployment 6.0% vs 4.0% — 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 $381,300 in 01453 versus $498,800 in 01564, with median rent of $1,354 and $1,699 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 62.2% vs 86.3%. 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.