AreaProfile

01604Worcester, Massachusetts

Area Profile

Income, jobs, climate, physical risk and development data for ZIP code 01604.

67
Area Score
Top 33% of 3,833 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
OpportunityTop 46% of 4,073 published ZIP areas57
GrowthTop 18% of 3,947 published ZIP areas67
Housing affordability3156th of 4,553 published ZIP areas62
Climate3762nd of 4,621 published ZIP areas61
Physical resilienceTop 16% of 4,554 published ZIP areas85
Access3825th of 4,623 published ZIP areas80
Economic stability3083rd of 4,591 published ZIP areas51
The quick read

Natural-hazard exposure is lower than in most comparable published ZIP profiles, placing 01604 in the top 16% for physical resilience.

Its Area Score of 67 places 01604 in the top 33% of published ZIP profiles.

At a glance

Population
39,812
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$73,505
Top 47% nationally
Density
6,001/sq mi
6.6 sq mi of land
Median age
37.4
2024 ACS 5-Year
City
Worcester
Massachusetts
Metro area
Worcester, MA
Nearest major airport
BOS
40 mi · General Edward Lawrence Logan Intl
Median home value
$352,500
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.4% is lower than 55% of the 4,387 measured US ZIP areas.

Employment fell 1.3% over the past year, to 105,425 employed residents.

33% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 70% of measured US ZIP areas.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$4,087$73,505Top 47%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$3,559$40,986Top 36%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate18.9%Top 21%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute26.6 minBottom 43%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher32.8%Top 30%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment105,425Top 25%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)1.9%Top 27%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-1.3%Bottom 41%June 2026
Labor force110,309Top 25%June 2026
Labor force participation67.4%Top 23%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$73,600Top 26%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$57,830Top 21%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)-0.4%Bottom 28%June 2026
Unemployment rate4.4%Bottom 45%June 2026
Median household income, successive ACS releases
202120222023202474k63k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $73,505 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 Worcester, MA, the city containing this ZIP code.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $1,584 takes 26% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 4.8 times median household income here, above the historic benchmark of about three times income.

Rent as a share of income
25.9%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
4.8×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,584
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$352,500
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income4.80Top 18%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate44.1%Bottom 7%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±59918,337Top 5%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$56$1,584Top 19%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$14,913$352,500Top 26%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income25.9%Top 12%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate8.1%Bottom 38%2024 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
67/ 100
Top 18% of 3,947 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.

90% of recently permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes, so new supply is concentrated in apartments and condominiums rather than detached houses.

At 3.5 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US ZIP areas.

Units permitted
720
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
3.5
Top 43% nationally
Year over year
+25%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
90.1%
units in 5+ unit buildings

The Building Permits Survey is not published for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Worcester, 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.

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, 5.5 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND4.8"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
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
Seasonal temperature swing46°F1991-2020 Normals

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.

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.

Taxes

AreaProfile does not yet publish tax comparisons. No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, methodology transparency and update cadence, and the product rule is to omit a dimension rather than estimate it. The Area Score is calculated without a tax component and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Nothing on AreaProfile is individualized tax advice.

Access

5 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 40 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
General Edward Lawrence Logan IntlBOS40 mi10,083 ft
Rhode Island TF Green IntlPVD41 mi8,700 ft
Westfield-Barnes RgnlBAF49 mi9,000 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
67
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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)

Profile recalculated August 29, 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.

01604 vs Worcester

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

01604
Worcester
Median household income
$73,505
vs
$70,102
Per capita income
$40,986
vs
$37,221
Population density
6,001/sq mi
vs
5,542/sq mi
Median home value
$352,500
vs
$374,400
Median gross rent
$1,584
vs
$1,487
Homeownership rate
44.1%
vs
42.8%
Bachelor's degree or higher
32.8%
vs
35.2%
Poverty rate
18.9%
vs
19.6%
Median age
37.4
vs
33.9

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.