Needham vs Norwood

A side-by-side comparison of Needham and Norwood: population, income, housing, and more.

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

Needham has the higher population (32,059 vs 31,380 in Norwood). Needham has the higher median household income ($212,241 vs $97,110 in Norwood). Needham has the higher median home value ($1,146,000 vs $613,500 in Norwood).

Population, income & housing

	Needham	Norwood
Population	32,059	31,380
Median age	43.0 yrs	39.4 yrs
Median household income	$212,241	$97,110
Median home value	$1,146,000	$613,500
Median gross rent	$2,412	$2,056
Housing units	11,754	13,961
Homeownership rate	84.3%	51.8%
Bachelor's degree or higher	80.8%	53.1%
Unemployment rate	4.5%	3.5%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Needham	Norwood
Population	30,970 → 32,059 (+3.5%)	29,306 → 31,380 (+7.1%)
Median household income	$165,547 → $212,241 (+28.2%)	$90,133 → $97,110 (+7.7%)
Median home value	$855,300 → $1,146,000 (+34.0%)	$439,300 → $613,500 (+39.7%)
Median gross rent	$1,483 → $2,412 (+62.6%)	$1,563 → $2,056 (+31.5%)

Needham

Population

30,97032,059

Median household income

$165,547$212,241

Median home value

$855,300$1,146,000

Median gross rent

$1,483$2,412

Norwood

Population

29,30631,380

Median household income

$90,133$97,110

Median home value

$439,300$613,500

Median gross rent

$1,563$2,056

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Needham	Norwood
Under 5	4.7%	6.1%
5 to 17	23.5%	13.2%
18 to 24	6.2%	7.1%
25 to 34	4.8%	16.8%
35 to 44	14.3%	13.3%
45 to 54	15.5%	12.4%
55 to 64	13.5%	12.4%
65 to 74	9.3%	9.5%
75 and over	8.2%	9.2%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Needham	Norwood
White (non-Hispanic)	80.9%	70.2%
Black or African American	1.5%	6.7%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.0%	0.0%
Asian	10.5%	6.8%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.1%	0.0%
Some other race	0.1%	2.8%
Two or more races	3.2%	4.2%
Hispanic or Latino	3.7%	9.1%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Needham	Norwood
No high school diploma	2.7%	6.8%
High school graduate	7.0%	19.7%
Some college or associate's	9.5%	20.3%
Bachelor's degree	29.7%	30.8%
Graduate or professional degree	51.2%	22.3%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Needham	Norwood
Drove alone	57.5%	63.3%
Carpooled	3.8%	9.2%
Public transit	7.6%	9.6%
Walked	1.9%	1.6%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.5%
Worked from home	28.8%	14.6%
Other means	0.3%	1.3%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Needham	Norwood
1-unit, detached	77.3%	44.5%
1-unit, attached	4.7%	6.6%
2 to 4 units	3.6%	20.5%
5 to 19 units	3.2%	16.9%
20 or more units	11.1%	11.5%
Mobile home & other	0.1%	0.1%

Poverty & households

	Needham	Norwood
Poverty rate	3.8%	8.2%
Average household size	2.75	2.33
Mean commute (minutes)	29	31
Median year structure built	1964	1961