ZIP 02143 vs ZIP 02145

This side-by-side compares ZIP 02143 (Somerville, MA) and ZIP 02145 (Somerville, MA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 02143 has a population of 24,514 at 6,130 people per square mile, while ZIP 02145 has 25,439 at 7,036 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 02143 reports a median household income of $130,753 against $123,755 in ZIP 02145, with per-capita income of $80,068 vs $65,296. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 75.9% in 02143 and 57.4% in 02145. Poverty rate reads 8.9% vs 9.9%, and unemployment 2.8% vs 3.2% — 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 $926,800 in 02143 versus $828,600 in 02145, with median rent of $2,475 and $2,398 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 31.0% vs 35.6%. 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.