Medford vs Waltham

A side-by-side comparison of Medford and Waltham: population, income, housing, and more.

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

Waltham has the higher population (64,723 vs 59,062 in Medford). Medford has the higher median household income ($118,089 vs $116,560 in Waltham). Medford has the higher median home value ($715,500 vs $705,700 in Waltham).

Population, income & housing

	Medford	Waltham
Population	59,062	64,723
Median age	36.1 yrs	35.1 yrs
Median household income	$118,089	$116,560
Median home value	$715,500	$705,700
Median gross rent	$2,477	$2,232
Housing units	25,879	26,898
Homeownership rate	53.1%	48.8%
Bachelor's degree or higher	57.6%	56.4%
Unemployment rate	4.4%	3.5%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Medford	Waltham
Population	57,637 → 59,062 (+2.5%)	62,777 → 64,723 (+3.1%)
Median household income	$96,455 → $118,089 (+22.4%)	$95,964 → $116,560 (+21.5%)
Median home value	$500,800 → $715,500 (+42.9%)	$536,500 → $705,700 (+31.5%)
Median gross rent	$1,817 → $2,477 (+36.3%)	$1,726 → $2,232 (+29.3%)

Medford

Population

57,63759,062

Median household income

$96,455$118,089

Median home value

$500,800$715,500

Median gross rent

$1,817$2,477

Waltham

Population

62,77764,723

Median household income

$95,964$116,560

Median home value

$536,500$705,700

Median gross rent

$1,726$2,232

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Medford	Waltham
Under 5	3.7%	5.1%
5 to 17	9.4%	8.4%
18 to 24	12.7%	18.5%
25 to 34	22.4%	17.9%
35 to 44	12.8%	12.8%
45 to 54	11.4%	9.9%
55 to 64	11.9%	12.1%
65 to 74	9.2%	8.5%
75 and over	6.5%	6.8%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Medford	Waltham
White (non-Hispanic)	66.9%	58.1%
Black or African American	6.3%	7.1%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.0%	0.3%
Asian	12.0%	12.8%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.1%
Some other race	1.7%	0.4%
Two or more races	4.2%	3.0%
Hispanic or Latino	8.9%	18.2%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Medford	Waltham
No high school diploma	7.3%	7.4%
High school graduate	18.5%	18.8%
Some college or associate's	16.6%	17.4%
Bachelor's degree	30.3%	29.0%
Graduate or professional degree	27.3%	27.4%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Medford	Waltham
Drove alone	50.1%	55.6%
Carpooled	6.2%	10.2%
Public transit	14.1%	5.4%
Walked	4.4%	6.2%
Bicycle	1.9%	0.7%
Worked from home	22.2%	20.0%
Other means	1.1%	2.0%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Medford	Waltham
1-unit, detached	32.3%	36.8%
1-unit, attached	7.2%	7.8%
2 to 4 units	34.5%	23.3%
5 to 19 units	4.5%	18.8%
20 or more units	21.4%	13.2%
Mobile home & other	0.1%	0.1%

Poverty & households

	Medford	Waltham
Poverty rate	8.2%	8.6%
Average household size	2.31	2.25
Mean commute (minutes)	31	25
Median year structure built	1944	1962