ZIP 01523 vs ZIP 01561

This side-by-side compares ZIP 01523 (Lancaster, MA) and ZIP 01561 (South Lancaster, MA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 01523 has a population of 7,582 at 116 people per square mile, while ZIP 01561 has 330 at 1,034 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 01523 reports a median household income of $134,833 against — in ZIP 01561, with per-capita income of $51,052 vs —. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 50.3% in 01523 and — in 01561. Poverty rate reads 1.4% vs —, and unemployment 6.9% vs — — 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 $519,100 in 01523 versus — in 01561, with median rent of $2,338 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 85.1% vs —. 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.