ZIP 01960 vs ZIP 01844

This side-by-side compares ZIP 01960 (Peabody, MA) and ZIP 01844 (Methuen, MA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 01960 has a population of 50,944 at 1,229 people per square mile, while ZIP 01844 has 47,249 at 821 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 01960 reports a median household income of $96,501 against $113,212 in ZIP 01844, with per-capita income of $50,850 vs $46,029. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 34.9% in 01960 and 31.0% in 01844. Poverty rate reads 7.7% vs 7.9%, and unemployment 4.9% vs 5.9% — 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 $596,700 in 01960 versus $499,800 in 01844, with median rent of $1,950 and $1,749 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 65.4% vs 72.3%. 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.