ZIP 02909 vs ZIP 02908

This side-by-side compares ZIP 02909 (Providence, RI) and ZIP 02908 (Providence, RI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 02909 has a population of 43,540 at 4,853 people per square mile, while ZIP 02908 has 37,467 at 4,578 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 02909 reports a median household income of $64,649 against $73,081 in ZIP 02908, with per-capita income of $28,721 vs $36,266. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 22.0% in 02909 and 26.9% in 02908. Poverty rate reads 24.4% vs 16.3%, and unemployment 11.3% vs 6.9% — 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 $325,300 in 02909 versus $324,100 in 02908, with median rent of $1,366 and $1,409 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 39.8% vs 46.0%. 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.