ZIP 02748 vs ZIP 02744

This side-by-side compares ZIP 02748 (South Dartmouth, MA) and ZIP 02744 (New Bedford, MA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 02748 has a population of 11,442 at 196 people per square mile, while ZIP 02744 has 11,900 at 3,560 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 02748 reports a median household income of $97,361 against $58,675 in ZIP 02744, with per-capita income of $67,102 vs $28,070. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 45.0% in 02748 and 15.7% in 02744. Poverty rate reads 7.4% vs 14.3%, and unemployment 2.3% vs 8.4% — 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 $521,800 in 02748 versus $372,700 in 02744, with median rent of $1,616 and $1,224 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 74.3% vs 34.4%. 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.