ZIP 02038 vs ZIP 02019

This side-by-side compares ZIP 02038 (Franklin, MA) and ZIP 02019 (Bellingham, MA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 02038 has a population of 31,635 at 459 people per square mile, while ZIP 02019 has 16,332 at 344 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 02038 reports a median household income of $145,773 against $125,307 in ZIP 02019, with per-capita income of $65,125 vs $52,727. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 58.1% in 02038 and 40.1% in 02019. Poverty rate reads 5.9% vs 5.7%, and unemployment 5.2% vs 7.4% — 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 $611,700 in 02038 versus $450,700 in 02019, with median rent of $1,899 and $1,836 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 78.2% vs 78.9%. 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.