ZIP 01543 vs ZIP 01522

This side-by-side compares ZIP 01543 (Rutland, MA) and ZIP 01522 (Jefferson, MA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 01543 has a population of 7,973 at 88 people per square mile, while ZIP 01522 has 3,310 at 78 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 01543 reports a median household income of $145,707 against $100,625 in ZIP 01522, with per-capita income of $51,386 vs $48,633. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 42.0% in 01543 and 62.0% in 01522. Poverty rate reads 2.1% vs 7.5%, and unemployment 5.4% vs 6.5% — 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 $462,800 in 01543 versus $423,900 in 01522, with median rent of $1,078 and $1,164 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 89.4% vs 80.3%. 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.