ZIP 01464 vs ZIP 01434

This side-by-side compares ZIP 01464 (Shirley, MA) and ZIP 01434 (Devens, MA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 01464 has a population of 7,211 at 186 people per square mile, while ZIP 01434 has 1,795 at 131 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 01464 reports a median household income of $122,365 against $162,143 in ZIP 01434, with per-capita income of $49,118 vs $26,859. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 36.7% in 01464 and 19.8% in 01434. Poverty rate reads 9.9% vs 6.3%, and unemployment 5.3% vs 1.8% — 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 $427,600 in 01464 versus $577,700 in 01434, with median rent of $1,481 and $1,183 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 77.4% vs 66.5%. 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.