ZIP 01524 vs ZIP 01611

This side-by-side compares ZIP 01524 (Leicester, MA) and ZIP 01611 (Cherry Valley, MA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 01524 has a population of 6,696 at 162 people per square mile, while ZIP 01611 has 2,242 at 252 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 01524 reports a median household income of $102,099 against $109,868 in ZIP 01611, with per-capita income of $42,669 vs $43,751. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 32.5% in 01524 and 31.4% in 01611. Poverty rate reads 5.1% vs 2.5%, and unemployment 2.8% vs 3.8% — 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 $436,200 in 01524 versus $359,800 in 01611, with median rent of $1,661 and $1,177 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 92.4% vs 83.0%. 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.