ZIP 02141 vs ZIP 02142

This side-by-side compares ZIP 02141 (Cambridge, MA) and ZIP 02142 (Cambridge, MA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 02141 has a population of 11,910 at 7,143 people per square mile, while ZIP 02142 has 3,141 at 4,363 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 02141 reports a median household income of $126,522 against $147,723 in ZIP 02142, with per-capita income of $80,031 vs $99,370. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 74.1% in 02141 and 89.4% in 02142. Poverty rate reads 14.7% vs 7.5%, and unemployment 3.4% vs 2.2% — 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 $868,100 in 02141 versus $1,954,500 in 02142, with median rent of $2,915 and $3,501 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 25.5% vs 6.9%. 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.