ZIP 02492 vs ZIP 02494

This side-by-side compares ZIP 02492 (Needham, MA) and ZIP 02494 (Needham Heights, MA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 02492 has a population of 19,931 at 807 people per square mile, while ZIP 02494 has 8,955 at 1,250 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 02492 reports a median household income of $226,645 against $179,720 in ZIP 02494, with per-capita income of $102,059 vs $102,850. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 85.0% in 02492 and 76.3% in 02494. Poverty rate reads 4.2% vs 2.7%, and unemployment 5.6% 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 $1,218,800 in 02492 versus $1,107,700 in 02494, with median rent of $2,070 and $2,492 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 89.5% vs 72.2%. 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.