ZIP 01605 vs ZIP 01606

This side-by-side compares ZIP 01605 (Worcester, MA) and ZIP 01606 (Worcester, MA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 01605 has a population of 26,221 at 1,795 people per square mile, while ZIP 01606 has 19,077 at 1,243 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 01605 reports a median household income of $54,642 against $92,105 in ZIP 01606, with per-capita income of $31,308 vs $46,282. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 33.4% in 01605 and 44.5% in 01606. Poverty rate reads 21.4% vs 9.2%, and unemployment 7.9% vs 3.4% — 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 $392,100 in 01605 versus $370,800 in 01606, with median rent of $1,421 and $1,584 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 30.3% vs 67.8%. 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.