ZIP 02457 vs ZIP 02481

This side-by-side compares ZIP 02457 (Babson Park, MA) and ZIP 02481 (Wellesley Hills, MA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 02457 has a population of 1,432 at 3,465 people per square mile, while ZIP 02481 has 16,244 at 1,112 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 02457 reports a median household income of — against $250,001 in ZIP 02481, with per-capita income of $5,236 vs $121,763. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is — in 02457 and 90.6% in 02481. Poverty rate reads — vs 2.4%, and unemployment 5.5% vs 3.9% — 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 — in 02457 versus $1,694,600 in 02481, with median rent of — and $3,054 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is — vs 87.3%. 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.