ZIP 02451 vs ZIP 02452

This side-by-side compares ZIP 02451 (Waltham, MA) and ZIP 02452 (Waltham, MA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 02451 has a population of 17,426 at 1,218 people per square mile, while ZIP 02452 has 14,238 at 1,485 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 02451 reports a median household income of $122,335 against $118,431 in ZIP 02452, with per-capita income of $67,455 vs $52,042. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 56.0% in 02451 and 53.8% in 02452. Poverty rate reads 8.3% vs 11.7%, and unemployment 3.4% vs 3.7% — 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 $753,000 in 02451 versus $808,300 in 02452, with median rent of $2,677 and $2,322 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 59.3% vs 51.1%. 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.