ZIP 02176 vs ZIP 02148

This side-by-side compares ZIP 02176 (Melrose, MA) and ZIP 02148 (Malden, MA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 02176 has a population of 26,983 at 2,225 people per square mile, while ZIP 02148 has 59,503 at 4,554 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 02176 reports a median household income of $133,953 against $100,606 in ZIP 02148, with per-capita income of $67,861 vs $48,581. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 62.0% in 02176 and 45.1% in 02148. Poverty rate reads 3.8% vs 11.4%, and unemployment 3.7% vs 5.3% — 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 $822,900 in 02176 versus $633,500 in 02148, with median rent of $1,970 and $2,204 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 67.2% vs 41.3%. 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.