ZIP 02081 vs ZIP 02032

This side-by-side compares ZIP 02081 (Walpole, MA) and ZIP 02032 (East Walpole, MA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 02081 has a population of 18,472 at 398 people per square mile, while ZIP 02032 has 4,226 at 698 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 02081 reports a median household income of $156,250 against $180,682 in ZIP 02032, with per-capita income of $74,874 vs $69,200. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 65.7% in 02081 and 70.4% in 02032. Poverty rate reads 4.3% vs 2.7%, and unemployment 5.5% vs 4.0% — 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 $687,500 in 02081 versus $702,300 in 02032, with median rent of $2,110 and $2,564 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 82.9% vs 82.1%. 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.