ZIP 02745 vs ZIP 02746

This side-by-side compares ZIP 02745 (New Bedford, MA) and ZIP 02746 (New Bedford, MA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 02745 has a population of 24,576 at 919 people per square mile, while ZIP 02746 has 15,342 at 2,800 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 02745 reports a median household income of $74,034 against $41,917 in ZIP 02746, with per-capita income of $37,256 vs $23,007. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 22.0% in 02745 and 9.6% in 02746. Poverty rate reads 14.6% vs 35.2%, and unemployment 5.6% vs 12.8% — 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 $368,600 in 02745 versus $358,700 in 02746, with median rent of $1,139 and $1,179 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 60.6% vs 17.3%. 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.