ZIP 02717 vs ZIP 02745

This side-by-side compares ZIP 02717 (East Freetown, MA) and ZIP 02745 (New Bedford, MA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 02717 has a population of 4,745 at 104 people per square mile, while ZIP 02745 has 24,576 at 919 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 02717 reports a median household income of $130,625 against $74,034 in ZIP 02745, with per-capita income of $49,916 vs $37,256. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 33.3% in 02717 and 22.0% in 02745. Poverty rate reads 1.9% vs 14.6%, and unemployment 4.8% vs 5.6% — 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 $520,800 in 02717 versus $368,600 in 02745, with median rent of $1,961 and $1,139 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 80.3% vs 60.6%. 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.