ZIP 02071 vs ZIP 02081

This side-by-side compares ZIP 02071 (South Walpole, MA) and ZIP 02081 (Walpole, MA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 02071 has a population of 1,707 at 679 people per square mile, while ZIP 02081 has 18,472 at 398 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 02071 reports a median household income of $213,885 against $156,250 in ZIP 02081, with per-capita income of $80,657 vs $74,874. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 77.4% in 02071 and 65.7% in 02081. Poverty rate reads 0.0% vs 4.3%, and unemployment 5.8% vs 5.5% — 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 $651,800 in 02071 versus $687,500 in 02081, with median rent of — and $2,110 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 95.7% vs 82.9%. 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.