ZIP 01534 vs ZIP 01525

This side-by-side compares ZIP 01534 (Northbridge, MA) and ZIP 01525 (Linwood, MA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 01534 has a population of 5,631 at 248 people per square mile, while ZIP 01525 has 290 at 250 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 01534 reports a median household income of $141,250 against — in ZIP 01525, with per-capita income of $64,863 vs —. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 44.6% in 01534 and — in 01525. Poverty rate reads 3.3% vs —, and unemployment 7.4% 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 $481,200 in 01534 versus — in 01525, with median rent of $1,226 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 81.6% 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.