ZIP 02895 vs ZIP 02838

This side-by-side compares ZIP 02895 (Woonsocket, RI) and ZIP 02838 (Manville, RI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 02895 has a population of 41,186 at 2,051 people per square mile, while ZIP 02838 has 3,400 at 918 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 02895 reports a median household income of $61,059 against $97,273 in ZIP 02838, with per-capita income of $31,639 vs $56,253. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 19.8% in 02895 and 41.0% in 02838. Poverty rate reads 18.7% vs 12.6%, and unemployment 6.8% vs 8.0% — 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 $311,000 in 02895 versus $372,300 in 02838, with median rent of $1,161 and $1,628 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 37.2% vs 64.5%. 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.