01843Lawrence, Massachusetts

Area Profile

Income, jobs, climate, physical risk and development data for ZIP code 01843.

48out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 10% of 5,298 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Opportunity5737th of 6,210 ZIP areas measured29
Schools3806th of 4,422 ZIP areas measured23
Growth4243rd of 5,428 ZIP areas measured33
Housing affordability6286th of 6,685 ZIP areas measured41
Climate4999th of 6,789 ZIP areas measured63
Physical resilienceTop 26% of 6,709 ZIP areas measured78
Access3705th of 6,791 ZIP areas measured91
Economic stabilityTop 33% of 6,742 ZIP areas measured68
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable published ZIP profiles: unemployment is 6.1% and the Opportunity signal places 01843 in the bottom 8%.

In the public schools here, 12% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 12.4 students for every teacher.

Housing costs more relative to local incomes than in most published city profiles: rent takes 31% of median household income and the median home is 6.3 times it.

At a glance

Population
27,445
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$67,585
Bottom 43% nationally
Density
8,134/sq mi
3.4 sq mi of land
Median age
34.0
2024 ACS 5-Year
City
Lawrence
Massachusetts
Metro area
Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH
Nearest major airport
MHT
22 mi · Manchester Boston Rgnl
Median home value
$429,100
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 6.1% is lower than 7% of the 6,544 measured US ZIP areas.

Employment fell 1.7% over the past year, to 41,549 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Median household income ±$7,263$67,585Bottom 43%of 31,2952024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$3,315$34,352Bottom 42%of 32,8222024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate14.8%Top 32%of 32,9702024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute25.4 minBottom 37%of 32,8872024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher20.3%Bottom 41%of 33,1932024 ACS 5-Year
Employment41,549Bottom 41%of 6,544June 2026
Employment change (3 years)-0.5%Bottom 42%of 6,542June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-1.7%Bottom 27%of 6,544June 2026
Labor force44,226Bottom 42%of 6,544June 2026
Labor force participation75.2%Top 6%of 33,2522024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$89,620Top 8%of 6,0722025 OEWS
Median annual wage$66,620Top 8%of 6,0722025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)-0.5%Bottom 18%of 6,544June 2026
Unemployment rate6.1%Top 7%of 6,544June 2026
Median household income, successive ACS releases
202120222023202473k61k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $67,585 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.
Largest occupations — Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Home Health and Personal Care Aides72,420$40,910
General and Operations Managers70,950$133,800
Registered Nurses64,240$106,180
Retail Salespersons64,150$36,850
Fast Food and Counter Workers60,130$36,290
Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners43,160$46,550

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish labor-force data for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Lawrence, MA, the city containing this ZIP code.

12% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 21% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 12.4 students for every full-time teacher, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
7
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
12.4
across all schools here
Math proficiency
11.6%
Bottom 10% in Massachusetts
Reading proficiency
20.8%
Bottom 3% in Massachusetts
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Lawrence High SchoolLawrence3,45313.6
South Lawrence East Elementary SchoolLawrence66612.16%22%
Robert FrostLawrence56811.617%24%
Frost Middle SchoolLawrence50814.518%22%
Emily G WetherbeeLawrence4808.710%22%
Spark AcademyLawrence4439.48%12%
High School Learning CenterLawrence19813.2

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data. Schools are placed by ZIP code, so this is which schools are in this place rather than which one a particular address is zoned for — district boundaries do not follow municipal ones, and enrollment zones change. Fully virtual schools are excluded: they enroll students from across the state while reporting one administrative address, and counting them here would describe a school population this place does not have. The assessment covers grades 3 through 8, so a high school shows no proficiency figure — a dash in those columns means the test was not given at that school, not that it performed badly. Proficiency is measured against Massachusetts’s own standard, so it compares cleanly within the state and only broadly against other states; AreaProfile therefore ranks it within state. The directory is current, while the proficiency figures are from the last school year with national coverage before the pandemic interrupted testing.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $1,746 takes 31% of median household income, above the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 6.3 times median household income here, well above the historic benchmark, at a level conventionally described as seriously unaffordable.

Rent as a share of income
31.0%
Above the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
6.3×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,746
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$429,100
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Home price to income6.35Top 8%of 30,4042024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate31.9%Bottom 4%of 32,9102024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±50810,740Top 15%of 33,7722024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$94$1,746Top 14%of 26,6182024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$28,548$429,100Top 18%of 30,9412024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income31.0%Top 4%of 26,4702024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2.2%Bottom 9%of 33,0282024 ACS 5-Year

Both affordability measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with, so the comparison is like for like. They describe housing cost against local earnings and are not a cost-of-living index — transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not included, and a place can look affordable here and still be expensive to live in for reasons this does not capture.

Growth & development

How it’s calculated →
Development Momentum
33/ 100
Ranks 4243 of 5,428 published city profiles

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

New construction is predominantly single-family: only 0% of permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes.

At 0.1 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US ZIP areas.

Units permitted
12
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
0.1
Bottom 7% nationally
Year over year
+9%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

The Building Permits Survey is not published for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Lawrence, MA, the city containing this ZIP code.

Weather & climate

5 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 83°F and January a low of 19°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 40.9 inches.

Air quality measures a median index of 37, in the Good band, and about 4 days a year pass 100, the threshold at which the air is unhealthy for sensitive groups.

10°30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station LAWRENCE MUNI AP, 2.6 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND4.1"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index58.02024 calendar year
Annual precipitation40.9"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low19°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high83°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months51991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 10042024 calendar year
Median air quality index37.02024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing46°F1991-2020 Normals
Air quality
Median air quality index
37
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
58
90th percentile index
Days above 100
4
unhealthy for sensitive groups

A comfortable median and a bad tail are different problems. Wildfire smoke and summer ozone show up in the worst tenth of days, not in the middle of the year.

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today. Air quality is measured rather than modelled, by EPA monitors, and published by county only where a monitor sits — roughly half the counties AreaProfile publishes have one, and the rest show nothing rather than an estimate. Air masses are regional, so a county reading describes the air over a place reasonably well, but it is still the county reading.

Physical risk

78 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are coastal flooding, hurricane and earthquake.

Coastal floodingHigh
Ice stormModerate
EarthquakeElevated
HurricaneElevated
Heat waveModerate
DroughtModerate

Low or minimal exposure: inland flooding, lightning, tornado, strong wind, cold wave, landslide, wildfire, winter weather, hail.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. ZIP values are the land-area-weighted mean of the counties the ZIP Code Tabulation Area intersects. Expected annual loss is not allocated below county level. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offences. AreaProfile does not publish reported crime, and this is not a substitute for it — it says nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Essex County records 1.7 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, lower than most counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 3.5 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, because nationally most firearm deaths are suicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 19.4 per 100,000 residents in Essex County.

Homicide
1.7
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Firearm deaths, all intents
3.5
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Drug overdose
19.4
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Suicide
7.7
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides. The two columns overlap and should not be added.

Age-adjusted rates from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC for Essex County as a whole — these rates are not published below county level. A county can hold both a dense city centre and a suburb whose experience of it is nothing alike, so this describes the county around 01843 rather than 01843 itself. That is why AreaProfile shows these figures and does not put them in the Area Score. Where fewer than ten deaths were recorded the count is suppressed at source, and a rate built on single figures moves sharply between releases. What this measure has that reported crime does not: a death certificate is filed whether or not the local police agency submitted a return that year, so the figures stay comparable between places and over time.

What this profile does not cover

Three things people look for are missing from every AreaProfile page, and each is missing for a reason rather than by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Reported crime
The FBI’s Crime Data Explorer is the only source for reported offences with national coverage and a published method, and it requires an API key AreaProfile does not hold. Arrest counts, news volume and commercial “safety scores” are not substituted in the meantime. What is published above under Safety is a different measurement — deaths rather than offences, from death certificates rather than police returns — and it covers no property crime at all.
Taxes
No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, transparent methodology and update cadence. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Full cost of living
No public source publishes one with national coverage and a documented method. Housing affordability above is computed from published rent, price and income, and excludes transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes — commuting cost in particular tends to offset suburban housing savings.

Access

5 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 22 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Manchester Boston RgnlMHT22 mi9,250 ft
General Edward Lawrence Logan IntlBOS24 mi10,083 ft
Rhode Island TF Green IntlPVD68 mi8,700 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

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Area Score
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource periodUpdated
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle28-day NASR cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 NormalsEvery ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period)
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
June 2026Monthly
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWSAnnual (spring release)
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month
Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-YearAnnual (5-year estimates released each December)
safetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
April, 2025 to March, 2026Quarterly, with a rolling twelve-month window alongside complete calendar years
schoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2019-20 school year; 2024-25 school yearDirectory annually; assessment results as EDFacts releases them
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar yearAnnually, once a calendar year is complete

Profile recalculated August 30, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology or browse every source.

01843 vs Lawrence

How this ZIP area compares with Lawrence as a whole. Both figures come from the same ACS release, so the comparison is like for like.

01843
Lawrence
Median household income
$67,585
vs
$60,433
Per capita income
$34,352
vs
$28,249
Population density
8,134/sq mi
vs
12,805/sq mi
Median home value
$429,100
vs
$415,200
Median gross rent
$1,746
vs
$1,662
Homeownership rate
31.9%
vs
28.1%
Bachelor's degree or higher
20.3%
vs
16.8%
Poverty rate
14.8%
vs
17.6%
Median age
34.0
vs
32.6

Some demographic statistics use Census ZIP Code Tabulation Areas, which approximate but do not exactly match USPS ZIP delivery geography. See the methodology for how AreaProfile maps between them.