ZIP 01501 vs ZIP 01603

This side-by-side compares ZIP 01501 (Auburn, MA) and ZIP 01603 (Worcester, MA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 01501 has a population of 16,075 at 401 people per square mile, while ZIP 01603 has 19,916 at 1,704 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 01501 reports a median household income of $116,762 against $66,049 in ZIP 01603, with per-capita income of $53,489 vs $33,873. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 45.5% in 01501 and 24.1% in 01603. Poverty rate reads 5.2% vs 17.8%, and unemployment 3.6% vs 7.1% — 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 $400,800 in 01501 versus $331,300 in 01603, with median rent of $1,467 and $1,372 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 79.5% vs 49.5%. 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.