ZIP 02879 vs ZIP 02881

This side-by-side compares ZIP 02879 (Wakefield, RI) and ZIP 02881 (Kingston, RI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 02879 has a population of 20,371 at 211 people per square mile, while ZIP 02881 has 7,841 at 838 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 02879 reports a median household income of $112,231 against $56,472 in ZIP 02881, with per-capita income of $59,265 vs $15,788. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 59.0% in 02879 and 80.6% in 02881. Poverty rate reads 8.2% vs 26.7%, and unemployment 5.2% vs 10.2% — 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 $564,700 in 02879 versus $575,000 in 02881, with median rent of $1,281 and $1,642 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 78.1% vs 44.0%. 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.