ZIP 01854 vs ZIP 01851

This side-by-side compares ZIP 01854 (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 01854 has a population of 27,606 at 2,709 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 01854 reports a median household income of $72,709 against $92,401 in ZIP 01851, with per-capita income of $34,471 vs $37,712. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 31.2% in 01854 and 30.2% in 01851. Poverty rate reads 17.7% vs 17.9%, and unemployment 5.5% 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 $412,000 in 01854 versus $467,000 in 01851, with median rent of $1,487 and $1,714 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 37.8% 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.