ZIP 01741 vs ZIP 01824

This side-by-side compares ZIP 01741 (Carlisle, MA) and ZIP 01824 (Chelmsford, MA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 01741 has a population of 4,852 at 123 people per square mile, while ZIP 01824 has 24,911 at 542 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 01741 reports a median household income of $250,001 against $140,050 in ZIP 01824, with per-capita income of $113,288 vs $62,155. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 87.2% in 01741 and 55.6% in 01824. Poverty rate reads 1.5% vs 5.4%, and unemployment 4.1% vs 6.5% — 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 $1,103,900 in 01741 versus $619,700 in 01824, with median rent of $1,313 and $2,167 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 93.6% vs 82.3%. 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.