Cambridge vs Lowell

A side-by-side comparison of Cambridge and Lowell: population, income, housing, and more.

Cambridge and Lowell are places in Massachusetts. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Cambridge has the higher population (117,794 vs 114,799 in Lowell). Cambridge has the higher median household income ($126,469 vs $76,205 in Lowell). Cambridge has the higher median home value ($1,040,500 vs $395,100 in Lowell).

Population, income & housing

	Cambridge	Lowell
Population	117,794	114,799
Median age	30.5 yrs	35.5 yrs
Median household income	$126,469	$76,205
Median home value	$1,040,500	$395,100
Median gross rent	$2,742	$1,603
Housing units	54,612	44,110
Homeownership rate	33.7%	44.0%
Bachelor's degree or higher	80.2%	29.9%
Unemployment rate	3.4%	5.4%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Cambridge	Lowell
Population	116,632 → 117,794 (+1.0%)	111,306 → 114,799 (+3.1%)
Median household income	$103,154 → $126,469 (+22.6%)	$56,878 → $76,205 (+34.0%)
Median home value	$768,300 → $1,040,500 (+35.4%)	$269,800 → $395,100 (+46.4%)
Median gross rent	$2,221 → $2,742 (+23.5%)	$1,158 → $1,603 (+38.4%)

Cambridge

Population

116,632117,794

Median household income

$103,154$126,469

Median home value

$768,300$1,040,500

Median gross rent

$2,221$2,742

Lowell

Population

111,306114,799

Median household income

$56,878$76,205

Median home value

$269,800$395,100

Median gross rent

$1,158$1,603

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Cambridge	Lowell
Under 5	4.0%	5.7%
5 to 17	8.2%	15.5%
18 to 24	20.3%	12.3%
25 to 34	26.9%	15.8%
35 to 44	12.9%	14.6%
45 to 54	7.9%	11.1%
55 to 64	7.5%	12.7%
65 to 74	7.5%	7.6%
75 and over	4.7%	4.7%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Cambridge	Lowell
White (non-Hispanic)	55.0%	44.2%
Black or African American	10.2%	10.1%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.1%	0.1%
Asian	19.6%	21.0%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.1%
Some other race	0.7%	1.1%
Two or more races	5.4%	4.2%
Hispanic or Latino	9.0%	19.3%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Cambridge	Lowell
No high school diploma	4.3%	16.7%
High school graduate	6.0%	30.8%
Some college or associate's	9.5%	22.7%
Bachelor's degree	29.8%	18.0%
Graduate or professional degree	50.4%	11.9%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Cambridge	Lowell
Drove alone	20.9%	73.0%
Carpooled	3.1%	8.6%
Public transit	19.4%	2.0%
Walked	19.3%	3.9%
Bicycle	7.3%	0.4%
Worked from home	28.3%	10.0%
Other means	1.7%	2.2%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Cambridge	Lowell
1-unit, detached	10.2%	30.5%
1-unit, attached	6.2%	7.7%
2 to 4 units	29.2%	26.8%
5 to 19 units	18.0%	16.9%
20 or more units	36.3%	17.7%
Mobile home & other	0.1%	0.4%

Poverty & households

	Cambridge	Lowell
Poverty rate	12.4%	16.0%
Average household size	2.06	2.59
Mean commute (minutes)	26	28
Median year structure built	1948	1954