ZIP 01503 vs ZIP 01532

This side-by-side compares ZIP 01503 (Berlin, MA) and ZIP 01532 (Northborough, MA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 01503 has a population of 2,866 at 85 people per square mile, while ZIP 01532 has 14,155 at 296 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 01503 reports a median household income of $121,336 against $153,199 in ZIP 01532, with per-capita income of $62,159 vs $77,642. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 48.3% in 01503 and 65.5% in 01532. Poverty rate reads 5.0% vs 3.7%, and unemployment 4.4% vs 4.9% — 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 $616,600 in 01503 versus $620,000 in 01532, with median rent of $2,420 and $1,919 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 77.3% vs 83.1%. 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.