ZIP 02026 vs ZIP 02132

This side-by-side compares ZIP 02026 (Dedham, MA) and ZIP 02132 (West Roxbury, MA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 02026 has a population of 24,711 at 931 people per square mile, while ZIP 02132 has 25,861 at 2,190 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 02026 reports a median household income of $128,955 against $138,724 in ZIP 02132, with per-capita income of $69,824 vs $75,546. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 55.0% in 02026 and 66.8% in 02132. Poverty rate reads 5.6% vs 4.3%, and unemployment 3.1% vs 3.6% — 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 $661,800 in 02026 versus $746,100 in 02132, with median rent of $2,042 and $2,184 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 73.4% vs 70.1%. 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.