ZIP 02461 vs ZIP 02464

This side-by-side compares ZIP 02461 (Newton Highlands, MA) and ZIP 02464 (Newton Upper Falls, MA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 02461 has a population of 7,059 at 1,873 people per square mile, while ZIP 02464 has 2,953 at 2,022 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 02461 reports a median household income of $224,000 against $105,729 in ZIP 02464, with per-capita income of $109,070 vs $70,396. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 88.1% in 02461 and 74.6% in 02464. Poverty rate reads 3.5% vs 9.3%, and unemployment 3.8% vs 3.8% — 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 $1,255,400 in 02461 versus $940,200 in 02464, with median rent of $2,978 and $2,271 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 76.2% vs 60.6%. 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.