ZIP 02124 vs ZIP 02126

This side-by-side compares ZIP 02124 (Dorchester Center, MA) and ZIP 02126 (Mattapan, MA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 02124 has a population of 47,783 at 6,159 people per square mile, while ZIP 02126 has 25,562 at 4,746 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 02124 reports a median household income of $81,923 against $65,709 in ZIP 02126, with per-capita income of $41,235 vs $36,742. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 31.6% in 02124 and 23.8% in 02126. Poverty rate reads 17.0% vs 16.4%, and unemployment 8.0% vs 10.6% — 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 $650,700 in 02124 versus $542,700 in 02126, with median rent of $1,684 and $1,637 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 41.4% vs 43.5%. 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.