ZIP 02139 vs ZIP 02215

This side-by-side compares ZIP 02139 (Cambridge, MA) and ZIP 02215 (Boston, MA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 02139 has a population of 36,349 at 9,009 people per square mile, while ZIP 02215 has 26,125 at 13,185 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 02139 reports a median household income of $134,586 against $72,095 in ZIP 02215, with per-capita income of $74,801 vs $34,893. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 79.5% in 02139 and 82.9% in 02215. Poverty rate reads 13.0% vs 28.4%, and unemployment 4.0% vs 8.4% — 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 $1,087,500 in 02139 versus $750,000 in 02215, with median rent of $2,691 and $2,443 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 32.2% vs 8.9%. 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.