ZIP 01730 vs ZIP 01731

This side-by-side compares ZIP 01730 (Bedford, MA) and ZIP 01731 (Hanscom Afb, MA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 01730 has a population of 13,221 at 373 people per square mile, while ZIP 01731 has 1,396 at 680 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 01730 reports a median household income of $172,400 against $104,688 in ZIP 01731, with per-capita income of $93,430 vs $36,720. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 69.6% in 01730 and 34.7% in 01731. Poverty rate reads 5.5% vs 0.0%, and unemployment 6.1% vs 0.3% — 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 $898,500 in 01730 versus — in 01731, with median rent of $2,622 and $3,408 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 68.8% vs 0.0%. 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.