ZIP 01564 vs ZIP 01583

This side-by-side compares ZIP 01564 (Sterling, MA) and ZIP 01583 (West Boylston, MA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 01564 has a population of 7,808 at 99 people per square mile, while ZIP 01583 has 7,591 at 232 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 01564 reports a median household income of $129,063 against $106,094 in ZIP 01583, with per-capita income of $67,107 vs $54,275. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 48.3% in 01564 and 41.8% in 01583. Poverty rate reads 6.0% vs 6.6%, and unemployment 4.0% vs 4.6% — 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 $498,800 in 01564 versus $441,500 in 01583, with median rent of $1,699 and $1,237 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 86.3% vs 78.8%. 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.