ZIP 02116 vs ZIP 02199

This side-by-side compares ZIP 02116 (Boston, MA) and ZIP 02199 (Boston, MA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 02116 has a population of 20,628 at 12,632 people per square mile, while ZIP 02199 has 1,146 at 7,732 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 02116 reports a median household income of $126,496 against $122,285 in ZIP 02199, with per-capita income of $128,518 vs $149,001. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 77.5% in 02116 and 93.9% in 02199. Poverty rate reads 16.6% vs 2.4%, and unemployment 5.2% vs 0.6% — 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 $1,562,500 in 02116 versus — in 02199, with median rent of $2,375 and $3,501 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 35.0% vs 0.8%. 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.