ZIP 02135 vs ZIP 02134

This side-by-side compares ZIP 02135 (Brighton, MA) and ZIP 02134 (Allston, MA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 02135 has a population of 42,780 at 6,271 people per square mile, while ZIP 02134 has 21,503 at 6,260 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 02135 reports a median household income of $90,829 against $78,679 in ZIP 02134, with per-capita income of $55,184 vs $48,257. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 72.0% in 02135 and 74.3% in 02134. Poverty rate reads 18.4% vs 21.5%, and unemployment 3.4% vs 5.4% — 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 $681,200 in 02135 versus $657,300 in 02134, with median rent of $2,249 and $2,358 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 23.3% vs 12.8%. 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.