ZIP 01606 vs ZIP 01605

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