01550Southbridge Town, Massachusetts

Area Profile

Income, jobs, climate, physical risk and development data for ZIP code 01550.

53out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 25% of 5,298 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Opportunity5199th of 6,210 ZIP areas measured37
Schools3989th of 4,422 ZIP areas measured20
Growth4554th of 5,428 ZIP areas measured29
Housing affordability4082nd of 6,685 ZIP areas measured73
Climate5562nd of 6,789 ZIP areas measured61
Physical resilienceTop 16% of 6,709 ZIP areas measured85
Access5023rd of 6,791 ZIP areas measured83
Economic stability3620th of 6,742 ZIP areas measured58
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable published ZIP profiles: unemployment is 5.4% and the Opportunity signal places 01550 in the bottom 16%.

Residential permitting has slowed: 5 units authorized over the past twelve months, 55% below the prior year.

Natural-hazard exposure is lower than in most comparable published ZIP profiles, placing 01550 in the top 16% for physical resilience.

At a glance

Population
17,928
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$66,287
Bottom 41% nationally
Density
886/sq mi
20.2 sq mi of land
Median age
40.9
2024 ACS 5-Year
City
Southbridge Town
Massachusetts
Metro area
Worcester, MA
Nearest major airport
BDL
34 mi · Bradley Intl
Median home value
$294,800
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 5.4% is lower than 16% of the 6,544 measured US ZIP areas.

Employment fell 1.3% over the past year, to 8,680 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Median household income ±$8,373$66,287Bottom 41%of 31,2952024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$4,065$35,249Bottom 45%of 32,8222024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate15.3%Top 31%of 32,9702024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute29.7 minTop 39%of 32,8872024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher19.4%Bottom 39%of 33,1932024 ACS 5-Year
Employment8,680Bottom 1%of 6,544June 2026
Employment change (3 years)1.5%Top 30%of 6,542June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-1.3%Bottom 39%of 6,544June 2026
Labor force9,173Bottom 1%of 6,544June 2026
Labor force participation66.2%Top 28%of 33,2522024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$73,600Top 26%of 6,0722025 OEWS
Median annual wage$57,830Top 22%of 6,0722025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)-0.2%Bottom 41%of 6,544June 2026
Unemployment rate5.4%Top 16%of 6,544June 2026
Median household income, successive ACS releases
202120222023202466k50k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $66,287 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 — Worcester, MA
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Home Health and Personal Care Aides14,720$40,870
Registered Nurses10,070$100,240
Retail Salespersons8,830$36,220
Fast Food and Counter Workers8,800$34,610
General and Operations Managers7,910$111,900
Cashiers6,930$34,770

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 Southbridge Town, MA, the city containing this ZIP code.

7% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 15% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 11.5 students for every full-time teacher, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
6
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
11.5
across all schools here
Math proficiency
7.0%
Bottom 2% in Massachusetts
Reading proficiency
15.5%
Bottom 1% in Massachusetts
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Southbridge High SchoolSouthbridge41910.0
Eastford RoadSouthbridge39715.3
Southbridge Middle SchoolSouthbridge3809.58%3%
West StreetSouthbridge32311.57%21%
Charlton StreetSouthbridge28813.77%27%
Southbridge AcademySouthbridge2110.5

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 →

Prices for everything a household buys run about 3% above the national average, on the Bureau of Economic Analysis index. Housing drives most of that difference.

Median rent of $1,256 takes 23% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 4.4 times median household income here, above the historic benchmark of about three times income.

Cost of living
103.0

Prices here run about 3% above the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Rent as a share of income
22.7%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
4.4×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,256
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$294,800
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Cost of living index103.0Top 35%of 6,0712023
Home price to income4.45Top 22%of 30,4042024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate42.7%Bottom 6%of 32,9102024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±3427,599Top 21%of 33,7722024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$79$1,256Top 33%of 26,6182024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$17,520$294,800Top 34%of 30,9412024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income22.7%Top 22%of 26,4702024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate4.5%Bottom 20%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
29/ 100
Ranks 4554 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 0.3 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US ZIP areas.

Units permitted
5
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
0.3
Bottom 11% nationally
Year over year
−55%
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 Southbridge Town, 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 80°F and January a low of 17°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 48.3 inches, including 72.9 inches of snow.

Air quality measures a median index of 37, in the Good band, and no day in the year passed 100.

10°30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station WORCESTER RGNL AP, 16.7 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND4.8"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index54.02024 calendar year
Annual precipitation48.3"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall72.9"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low17°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high80°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months51991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 10002024 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
54
90th percentile index
Days above 100
0
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

85 / 100
Physical resilience

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

Ice stormModerate
HurricaneElevated
LandslideModerate
Heat waveModerate
EarthquakeModerate
TornadoModerate
DroughtModerate

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

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 — they say nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Worcester County records 1.8 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 4.6 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 Worcester County.

Homicide
1.8
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Firearm deaths, all intents
4.6
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Drug overdose
19.4
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Suicide
8.1
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 Worcester 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 01550 rather than 01550 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
Offences reported to police are published by department rather than by town, and only where a department reported every month of the year. No municipal department reports for this place — many smaller communities are policed by the county — so there is no figure to show. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
Taxes
Taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Cost of living now is — the index above is the Bureau of Economic Analysis price parity for this area — but it is a price level for all consumption rather than a budget for a household, its spread is driven mostly by housing, and it excludes taxes. Housing affordability is computed separately from rent, price and income, because that answers a narrower and more actionable question. Nothing here is individualised tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house. School attendance zones, insurance pricing and the character of a neighbourhood all vary within the places measured here.

Access

5 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 34 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Bradley IntlBDL34 mi9,510 ft
Westfield-Barnes RgnlBAF36 mi9,000 ft
Rhode Island TF Green IntlPVD39 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
53
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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)
HousingU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023Annually, each December
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)
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)
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month
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.

01550 vs Southbridge Town

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

01550
Southbridge Town
Median household income
$66,287
vs
$66,287
Per capita income
$35,249
vs
$35,249
Population density
886/sq mi
vs
886/sq mi
Median home value
$294,800
vs
$294,800
Median gross rent
$1,256
vs
$1,256
Homeownership rate
42.7%
vs
42.7%
Bachelor's degree or higher
19.4%
vs
19.4%
Poverty rate
15.3%
vs
15.3%
Median age
40.9
vs
40.9

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.