ZIP 01843 vs ZIP 01840

This side-by-side compares ZIP 01843 (Lawrence, MA) and ZIP 01840 (Lawrence, MA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 01843 has a population of 24,425 at 2,796 people per square mile, while ZIP 01840 has 4,733 at 3,668 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 01843 reports a median household income of $67,585 against $42,211 in ZIP 01840, with per-capita income of $34,352 vs $23,811. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 20.3% in 01843 and 18.3% in 01840. Poverty rate reads 14.8% vs 24.7%, and unemployment 6.7% vs 7.9% — 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 $429,100 in 01843 versus — in 01840, with median rent of $1,746 and $1,413 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 31.9% vs 2.5%. 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.