ZIP 02860 vs ZIP 02861

This side-by-side compares ZIP 02860 (Pawtucket, RI) and ZIP 02861 (Pawtucket, RI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 02860 has a population of 45,199 at 3,229 people per square mile, while ZIP 02861 has 26,178 at 2,836 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 02860 reports a median household income of $61,539 against $83,411 in ZIP 02861, with per-capita income of $33,423 vs $38,341. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 23.1% in 02860 and 20.8% in 02861. Poverty rate reads 15.5% vs 9.5%, and unemployment 8.1% vs 6.0% — 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 $336,100 in 02860 versus $315,400 in 02861, with median rent of $1,192 and $1,245 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 40.8% vs 66.7%. 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.