ZIP 02134 vs ZIP 02163

This side-by-side compares ZIP 02134 (Allston, MA) and ZIP 02163 (Boston, MA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 02134 has a population of 21,503 at 6,260 people per square mile, while ZIP 02163 has 2,582 at 10,057 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 02134 reports a median household income of $78,679 against $84,583 in ZIP 02163, with per-capita income of $48,257 vs $31,904. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 74.3% in 02134 and 94.1% in 02163. Poverty rate reads 21.5% vs 33.8%, and unemployment 5.4% vs 8.2% — 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 $657,300 in 02134 versus — in 02163, with median rent of $2,358 and $3,501 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 12.8% vs 0.0%. 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.