ZIP 01821 vs ZIP 01862

This side-by-side compares ZIP 01821 (Billerica, MA) and ZIP 01862 (North Billerica, MA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 01821 has a population of 30,310 at 706 people per square mile, while ZIP 01862 has 10,227 at 427 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 01821 reports a median household income of $149,042 against $138,571 in ZIP 01862, with per-capita income of $61,572 vs $55,587. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 40.2% in 01821 and 38.8% in 01862. Poverty rate reads 5.3% vs 5.9%, and unemployment 3.0% vs 5.9% — 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 $615,100 in 01821 versus $586,200 in 01862, with median rent of $2,346 and $2,142 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 82.2% vs 71.6%. 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.