ZIP 02138 vs ZIP 02140

This side-by-side compares ZIP 02138 (Cambridge, MA) and ZIP 02140 (Cambridge, MA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 02138 has a population of 36,314 at 5,116 people per square mile, while ZIP 02140 has 17,607 at 5,888 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 02138 reports a median household income of $119,967 against $135,286 in ZIP 02140, with per-capita income of $75,496 vs $86,528. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 85.6% in 02138 and 79.1% in 02140. Poverty rate reads 13.5% vs 11.1%, and unemployment 3.3% vs 2.6% — 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 $1,212,400 in 02138 versus $1,149,800 in 02140, with median rent of $2,772 and $2,615 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 41.9% vs 34.9%. 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.