ZIP 01515 vs ZIP 01506

This side-by-side compares ZIP 01515 (East Brookfield, MA) and ZIP 01506 (Brookfield, MA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 01515 has a population of 2,183 at 85 people per square mile, while ZIP 01506 has 3,390 at 84 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 01515 reports a median household income of $81,042 against $81,250 in ZIP 01506, with per-capita income of $44,577 vs $48,947. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 27.0% in 01515 and 28.9% in 01506. Poverty rate reads 7.1% vs 8.9%, and unemployment 5.1% vs 6.3% — 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 $381,200 in 01515 versus $341,900 in 01506, with median rent of $1,142 and $1,014 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 83.3% vs 87.5%. 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.