ZIP 01562 vs ZIP 01524

This side-by-side compares ZIP 01562 (Spencer, MA) and ZIP 01524 (Leicester, MA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 01562 has a population of 11,688 at 137 people per square mile, while ZIP 01524 has 6,696 at 162 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 01562 reports a median household income of $80,533 against $102,099 in ZIP 01524, with per-capita income of $45,204 vs $42,669. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 29.1% in 01562 and 32.5% in 01524. Poverty rate reads 11.0% vs 5.1%, and unemployment 7.1% vs 2.8% — 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 $382,000 in 01562 versus $436,200 in 01524, with median rent of $1,078 and $1,661 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 63.0% vs 92.4%. 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.