ZIP 02493 vs ZIP 01778

This side-by-side compares ZIP 02493 (Weston, MA) and ZIP 01778 (Wayland, MA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 02493 has a population of 11,261 at 259 people per square mile, while ZIP 01778 has 13,109 at 333 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 02493 reports a median household income of $250,001 against $219,375 in ZIP 01778, with per-capita income of $136,646 vs $104,236. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 84.3% in 02493 and 78.8% in 01778. Poverty rate reads 2.9% vs 5.0%, and unemployment 2.2% vs 3.3% — 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 $1,694,400 in 02493 versus $977,300 in 01778, with median rent of $2,085 and $1,536 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 87.5% vs 87.4%. 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.