ZIP 01731 vs ZIP 01730

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