ZIP 01720 vs ZIP 01718

This side-by-side compares ZIP 01720 (Acton, MA) and ZIP 01718 (Acton, MA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 01720 has a population of 21,361 at 418 people per square mile, while ZIP 01718 has 469 at 3,900 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 01720 reports a median household income of $159,010 against $104,167 in ZIP 01718, with per-capita income of $81,175 vs $82,440. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 79.3% in 01720 and 85.2% in 01718. Poverty rate reads 3.5% vs 0.0%, and unemployment 4.8% vs 0.0% — 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 $814,300 in 01720 versus $375,800 in 01718, with median rent of $1,982 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 74.2% vs 94.1%. 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.