ZIP 02420 vs ZIP 02421

This side-by-side compares ZIP 02420 (Lexington, MA) and ZIP 02421 (Lexington, MA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 02420 has a population of 14,052 at 824 people per square mile, while ZIP 02421 has 17,342 at 680 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 02420 reports a median household income of $245,031 against $227,813 in ZIP 02421, with per-capita income of $117,095 vs $112,662. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 85.6% in 02420 and 83.2% in 02421. Poverty rate reads 2.8% vs 6.4%, and unemployment 3.5% vs 2.4% — 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 $1,200,300 in 02420 versus $1,205,700 in 02421, with median rent of $2,801 and $2,948 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 86.0% vs 75.9%. 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.