ZIP 02464 vs ZIP 02461

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