ZIP 01824 vs ZIP 01851

This side-by-side compares ZIP 01824 (Chelmsford, MA) and ZIP 01851 (Lowell, MA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 01824 has a population of 24,911 at 542 people per square mile, while ZIP 01851 has 30,190 at 3,485 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 01824 reports a median household income of $140,050 against $92,401 in ZIP 01851, with per-capita income of $62,155 vs $37,712. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 55.6% in 01824 and 30.2% in 01851. Poverty rate reads 5.4% vs 17.9%, and unemployment 6.5% vs 5.7% — 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 $619,700 in 01824 versus $467,000 in 01851, with median rent of $2,167 and $1,714 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 82.3% vs 43.7%. 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.