AreaProfile

02141Cambridge, Massachusetts

Area Profile

Income, jobs, climate, physical risk and development data for ZIP code 02141.

71
Area Score
Top 20% of 3,833 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
OpportunityTop 15% of 4,073 published ZIP areas74
GrowthTop 34% of 3,947 published ZIP areas59
Housing affordability4042nd of 4,553 published ZIP areas45
Climate2892nd of 4,621 published ZIP areas65
Physical resilienceTop 13% of 4,554 published ZIP areas88
AccessTop 19% of 4,623 published ZIP areas99
Economic stability2509th of 4,591 published ZIP areas58
The quick read

02141 ranks in the top 15% of published ZIP profiles for employment opportunity, with unemployment at 3.4% and median household income of $126,522.

Housing costs more relative to local incomes than in most published city profiles, with rent taking 28% of median household income.

Natural-hazard exposure is lower than in most comparable published ZIP profiles, placing 02141 in the top 13% for physical resilience.

At a glance

Population
14,517
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$126,522
Top 8% nationally
Density
23,837/sq mi
0.6 sq mi of land
Median age
31.2
2024 ACS 5-Year
City
Cambridge
Massachusetts
Metro area
Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH
Nearest major airport
BOS
4 mi · General Edward Lawrence Logan Intl
Median home value
$868,100
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 3.4% is lower than 90% of the 4,387 measured US ZIP areas.

Employment fell 1.7% over the past year, to 70,726 employed residents.

74% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 98% of measured US ZIP areas.

Household income is higher than at least 92% of measured US ZIP areas.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$14,866$126,522Top 8%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$6,147$80,031Top 4%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate14.7%Top 33%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute28.6 minTop 45%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher74.1%Top 2%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment70,726Top 35%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)0.4%Top 46%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-1.7%Bottom 27%June 2026
Labor force73,191Top 35%June 2026
Labor force participation74.9%Top 6%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$89,620Top 9%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$66,620Top 9%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)-0.5%Bottom 18%June 2026
Unemployment rate3.4%Bottom 10%June 2026
Median household income, successive ACS releases
2021202220232024127k97k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $126,522 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.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish labor-force data for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Cambridge, MA, the city containing this ZIP code.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $2,915 takes 28% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 6.9 times median household income here, well above the historic benchmark, at a level conventionally described as seriously unaffordable.

Rent as a share of income
27.6%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
6.9×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$2,915
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$868,100
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income6.86Top 7%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate25.5%Bottom 3%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±3648,266Top 20%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$138$2,915Top 1%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$44,850$868,100Top 4%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income27.6%Top 9%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate12.0%Top 47%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 →
Development Momentum
59/ 100
Top 34% of 3,947 published city profiles

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

83% of recently permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes, so new supply is concentrated in apartments and condominiums rather than detached houses.

At 2.8 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US ZIP areas.

Units permitted
337
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
2.8
Bottom 47% nationally
Year over year
+362%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
82.8%
units in 5+ unit buildings

The Building Permits Survey is not published for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Cambridge, MA, the city containing this ZIP code.

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, 3.7 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

88 / 100
Physical resilience

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

Ice stormModerate
EarthquakeElevated
Heat waveModerate
HurricaneModerate
DroughtModerate

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

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. ZIP values are the land-area-weighted mean of the counties the ZIP Code Tabulation Area intersects. Expected annual loss is not allocated below county level. 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 4 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
General Edward Lawrence Logan IntlBOS4 mi10,083 ft
Manchester Boston RgnlMHT43 mi9,250 ft
Rhode Island TF Green IntlPVD48 mi8,700 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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Area Score
71
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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
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
June 2026Monthly
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWSAnnual (spring release)
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month
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.

02141 vs Cambridge

How this ZIP area compares with Cambridge as a whole. Both figures come from the same ACS release, so the comparison is like for like.

02141
Cambridge
Median household income
$126,522
vs
$130,748
Per capita income
$80,031
vs
$78,723
Population density
23,837/sq mi
vs
18,571/sq mi
Median home value
$868,100
vs
$1,092,100
Median gross rent
$2,915
vs
$2,787
Homeownership rate
25.5%
vs
33.5%
Bachelor's degree or higher
74.1%
vs
80.8%
Poverty rate
14.7%
vs
12.8%
Median age
31.2
vs
30.4

Some demographic statistics use Census ZIP Code Tabulation Areas, which approximate but do not exactly match USPS ZIP delivery geography. See the methodology for how AreaProfile maps between them.