ZIP 01929 vs ZIP 01944

This side-by-side compares ZIP 01929 (Essex, MA) and ZIP 01944 (Manchester, MA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 01929 has a population of 3,504 at 97 people per square mile, while ZIP 01944 has 5,136 at 215 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 01929 reports a median household income of $156,442 against $206,389 in ZIP 01944, with per-capita income of $78,269 vs $106,716. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 68.8% in 01929 and 78.3% in 01944. Poverty rate reads 8.3% vs 2.1%, and unemployment 1.5% vs 8.4% — 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 $902,000 in 01929 versus $942,000 in 01944, with median rent of $1,964 and $1,811 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 74.6% vs 74.7%. 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.