AreaProfile

Brookline, Massachusetts

Area Profile

63,266 residents. Jobs, income, climate, physical risk, development and airport access for Brookline, in Norfolk County.

Area Score unavailable

Missing required signals: opportunity, growth. AreaProfile withholds a score rather than inferring the missing dimensions.

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Housing affordability1727th of 1,876 published cities43
Climate1189th of 1,876 published cities65
Physical resilienceTop 8% of 1,849 published cities92
AccessTop 18% of 1,876 published cities99
Economic stabilityTop 18% of 1,876 published cities73
The quick read

Housing costs more relative to local incomes than in most published city profiles, with rent taking 24% of median household income.

Natural-hazard exposure is lower than in most comparable published city profiles, placing Brookline in the top 8% for physical resilience.

A major airport is 7 miles away, giving the area unusually direct access to the national air network.

At a glance

Population
63,266
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$142,101
Top 6% nationally
Density
9,362/sq mi
6.8 sq mi of land
Median age
35.2
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Norfolk County
Massachusetts
Metro area
Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH
Nearest major airport
BOS
7 mi · General Edward Lawrence Logan Intl
Median home value
$1,246,800
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

85% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 99% of measured US cities.

Household income is higher than at least 94% of measured US cities.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$8,266$142,101Top 6%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$5,338$96,682Top 2%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate8.7%Bottom 41%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute29.7 minTop 35%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher85.4%Top 1%2024 ACS 5-Year
Labor force participation73.2%Top 11%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$89,620Top 11%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$66,620Top 11%2025 OEWS
Median household income, successive ACS releases
2021202220232024142k122k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $142,101 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.
Largest occupations — Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Home Health and Personal Care Aides72,420$40,910
General and Operations Managers70,950$133,800
Registered Nurses64,240$106,180
Retail Salespersons64,150$36,850
Fast Food and Counter Workers60,130$36,290
Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners43,160$46,550

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $2,835 takes 24% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 8.8 times median household income here, well above the historic benchmark, at a level conventionally described as seriously unaffordable.

Rent as a share of income
23.9%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
8.8×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$2,835
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$1,246,800
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income8.77Top 2%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate46.9%Bottom 7%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±75328,873Top 2%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$82$2,835Top 2%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$66,806$1,246,800Top 1%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income23.9%Top 21%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate4.5%Bottom 26%2024 ACS 5-Year

Both affordability measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with, so the comparison is like for like. They describe housing cost against local earnings and are not a cost-of-living index — transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not included, and a place can look affordable here and still be expensive to live in for reasons this does not capture.

Growth & development

How it’s calculated →

No building-permit activity is published for this location by the Census Building Permits Survey.

Weather & climate

5 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 82°F and January a low of 23°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 43.6 inches, including 49.2 inches of snow.

10°30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station BOSTON LOGAN INTL AP, 7.2 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND4.3"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation43.6"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall49.2"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low23°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high82°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months51991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing44°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today.

Physical risk

92 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are hurricane, earthquake and coastal flooding.

HurricaneElevated
EarthquakeModerate
Coastal floodingModerate
DroughtModerate

Low or minimal exposure: inland flooding, heat wave, ice storm, lightning, cold wave, tornado, landslide, strong wind, winter weather, wildfire, hail.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. City values are the population-weighted mean of the counties the city overlaps, using AreaProfile place-to-county land-area weights. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

Taxes

AreaProfile does not yet publish tax comparisons. No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, methodology transparency and update cadence, and the product rule is to omit a dimension rather than estimate it. The Area Score is calculated without a tax component and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Nothing on AreaProfile is individualized tax advice.

Access

5 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 7 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
General Edward Lawrence Logan IntlBOS7 mi10,083 ft
Rhode Island TF Green IntlPVD44 mi8,700 ft
Manchester Boston RgnlMHT45 mi9,250 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

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Other cities in Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
BostonSuffolk County666,44269vs Brookline
CambridgeMiddlesex County118,79670vs Brookline
LowellMiddlesex County118,36866vs Brookline
BrocktonPlymouth County105,38662vs Brookline
QuincyNorfolk County102,11473vs Brookline
LynnEssex County101,70962vs Brookline
NewtonMiddlesex County89,04473vs Brookline
LawrenceEssex County88,73652vs Brookline
SomervilleMiddlesex County81,03671vs Brookline
FraminghamMiddlesex County72,39970vs Brookline
MaldenMiddlesex County65,90668vs Brookline
WalthamMiddlesex County64,90270vs Brookline

Every city here is measured on the same scale from the same source releases, so the comparison is like for like. A higher Area Score reflects AreaProfile’s standardized weighting rather than a judgment about which is the better place to live.

Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource periodUpdated
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle28-day NASR cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 NormalsEvery ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period)
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWSAnnual (spring release)
Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-YearAnnual (5-year estimates released each December)

Profile recalculated August 29, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology or browse every source.

ZIP codes in Brookline

3 published ZIP profiles
ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeArea Score
0244631,310$131,963
0246723,001$169,104
0244522,560$139,747