ZIP 02478 vs ZIP 02476

This side-by-side compares ZIP 02478 (Belmont, MA) and ZIP 02476 (Arlington, MA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 02478 has a population of 24,664 at 2,051 people per square mile, while ZIP 02476 has 16,532 at 3,050 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 02478 reports a median household income of $183,137 against $151,131 in ZIP 02476, with per-capita income of $95,484 vs $97,683. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 80.9% in 02478 and 75.7% in 02476. Poverty rate reads 3.6% vs 6.7%, and unemployment 4.3% vs 2.1% — 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 $1,159,000 in 02478 versus $934,800 in 02476, with median rent of $2,527 and $1,917 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 64.7% vs 62.3%. 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.