ZIP 01852 vs ZIP 01851

This side-by-side compares ZIP 01852 (Lowell, 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 01852 has a population of 33,508 at 2,603 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 01852 reports a median household income of $80,906 against $92,401 in ZIP 01851, with per-capita income of $40,981 vs $37,712. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 33.1% in 01852 and 30.2% in 01851. Poverty rate reads 15.1% vs 17.9%, and unemployment 4.7% 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 $424,300 in 01852 versus $467,000 in 01851, with median rent of $1,581 and $1,714 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 44.3% 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.