ZIP 02852 vs ZIP 02891

This side-by-side compares ZIP 02852 (North Kingstown, RI) and ZIP 02891 (Westerly, RI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 02852 has a population of 22,551 at 282 people per square mile, while ZIP 02891 has 21,198 at 311 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 02852 reports a median household income of $118,643 against $97,110 in ZIP 02891, with per-capita income of $62,471 vs $60,285. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 53.1% in 02852 and 46.1% in 02891. Poverty rate reads 7.0% vs 5.5%, and unemployment 3.5% vs 4.1% — 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 $504,900 in 02852 versus $470,000 in 02891, with median rent of $1,239 and $1,266 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 72.2% vs 74.6%. 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.