Drivers need to be careful as black ice is possible in parts of Massachusetts Tuesday morning.
“Roads that appear wet may contain patches of black ice,” the National Weather Service warned.
The weather service said there was a coating of about a half inch of snow Monday night across parts of southern New England, including in Massachusetts. Temperatures have since dropped below freezing and patchy ground fog has also developed.
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“This coupled with the leftover moisture from yesterday’s light snow may allow for patches of black ice to develop on untreated damp roadways early this morning,” the weather service said.
The alert is for Western and Central Massachusetts, including Greenfield, Northampton, Springfield and Worcester.
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Read more: When do Massachusetts bears start hibernating in the winter?
After a cloudy day for most of the state on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday are expected to be mostly sunny. Rain could return Friday night.
Massachusetts stands among the top five states in the United States in terms of income, boasting a household income of $99,858 and a mean household income of $138,516, according to the Census Bureau. Affluence is a hallmark of many places in Massachusetts, both of regular suburbs and resort areas.
For this article, we wanted to breakdown the most expensive ZIP codes in Massachusetts. Vacation spots in Nantucket, Martha’s Vineyard, Cape Code, and the Berkshires not surprisingly are home to many of the most expensive ZIP codes. But so does the Boston metro area. Read on to find out the most expensive ZIP codes in Massachusetts in 2024, based on the latest data from Zillow’s home value index.
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The Most Expensive ZIP Codes in Massachusetts
Harnessing data from Zillow’s home value index, as well as the Census Bureau’s 2023 American Community Survey, we analyzed thousands of ZIP codes across the U.S. as part of a general survey. From there, we focused our attention on Massachusetts. The Zillow home value index tracks (as of September 2024) the home values of 484 ZIP codes in Massachusetts. As part of our analysis, we took into consideration the latest monthly home values Zillow has — September 2024 — as well as the average of 12 months of median home values from October 2023 to September 2024. While home values have grown immensely across America since the pandemic-induced buying frenzy, home value appreciation in Massachusetts stands out. One of the most expensive ZIP codes in Massachusetts witnessed home values surge by 84.8% over the last five years.
Some very clear patterns emerge from this analysis. The majority of the most expensive ZIP codes in Massachusetts are contained within just a couple of metropolitan areas. Below are the 25 most expensive ZIP codes in Massachusetts.
The Top 5 Most Expensive ZIP Codes in Massachusetts
ZIP code 02554 is the most expensive one in Massachusetts. This ZIP code covers the affluent island of Nantucket. This shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise considering Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard are well-known for attracting wealthy residents. The 12-month average home value is just over $2.7 million, while the median home value was over $2.77 million in September 2024. That is up an incredible 57.5% from five years before, when the median home value was roughly $1.76 million in September 2019.
Moving over to Nantucket’s neighbor, ZIP code 02535 covers the southwestern portion of Martha’s Vineyard. Incomes are high in ZIP code 02535, with the median household income being $135,750 and the average household income $223,352. Just over 29% of households in ZIP code 02535 earn $200,000 or more a year. Back in September 2019, the median home value was nearly $1.478 million, before rising by 58.8% over five years, reaching $2.346 million in September 2024. Notably, though, the median home value fell slightly, by 2%, from the previous September, when it was just under $2.395 million.
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The No. 3 most expensive ZIP code in Massachusetts is 02493, which is centered on Weston, a suburb west of Boston. Household incomes in ZIP code 02493 are much higher than those on Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard, believe it or not. The median household income in ZIP code 02493 is over $250,000 a year, while the mean household income is $365,202. The majority of households in 02493 earn $200,000 or more. Home value appreciation here has been robust. The median home value rose by 59.1%, from around $1.374 million in September 2019 to $2.186 million in September 2024.
South of the No. 3 most expensive ZIP code is the No. 4, ZIP code 02481. This ZIP code is centered on Wellesley, though actually wraps around the town, including places like Wellesley Farms, Wellesley Lower Falls, and Wellesley College itself. There are some serious high-earners in this ZIP code. The median household income is over $250,000, with the average household income topping $414,000 per year. Here’s another ZIP code where home values increased substantially. From a median of nearly $1.357 million in September 2019, the median home value increased by 53.1%, to reach $2.077 million. Indeed, it’s up 6.3% year-over-year.
The fifth most expensive ZIP code in Massachusetts is based on the village of Waban, which is part of the larger city of Newton: 02468. This is another western suburb of Boston. Like the other expensive suburban ZIP codes of Boston, incomes are very high in 02468. Incredibly, 71.3% of households in 02468 earn $200,000 or more. The median household income here is more than $250,000 per year; the mean household income is $382,509. Home values here rose by 45.3% in five years, not as large a growth rate as the other ZIP codes among our top five, yet still substantial. In September 2024, the median home value breached $2 million.
Three years into its anticipated seven-year timeline, construction is well underway on Massachusetts General Hospital’s massive new $1.9 billion clinical care facility on its Boston campus.
At over 1.5 million square feet, the Phillip and Susan Ragon Building will house the Mass General Cancer Center and the Corrigan Minehan Heart Center. Its two inpatient towers will contain 482 single-bed rooms, and the facility will include rooms for operations, imaging, infusions, and exams.
When the project along Cambridge Street broke ground in 2022, the hospital’s president David F. M. Brown called it “the most important” building constructed in the hospital’s history since its original building was constructed more than two centuries ago.
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“It will create the environment our staff need, and our patients deserve,” he said at the time.
At a recent celebration of the last beam being placed on the building’s East Tower, Jonathan Kraft, chair of the hospital’s board of trustees, said the building will be the “flagship building” of the hospital’s parent organization,Mass General Brigham.
“It will be the signature building of our system and the signature building of the whole health care community in New England,” he said.
The building will rely primarily on renewable electricity and has a net-zero carbon plan for construction and operation, MGH has said. It will potentially house a new T stop on the proposed Red-Blue connector, according to the hospital’s website. Construction is set to be completed in two phases, in 2027 and 2030.
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Stella Tannenbaum can be reached at stella.tannenbaum@globe.com.
ALLSTON – While the Celtics were at the White House Thursday celebrating their championship, high school students from across Massachusetts gathered in their practice gym in Allston to discuss race, religion, and discrimination.
Social justice workshops
More than 100 students from 24 different towns participated in the Playbook Initiative at the Auerbach Center, presented by New Balance, the Boston Celtics Shamrock Foundation, and the nonprofit organization Project 351.
From 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., the students participated in workshops about social justice issues, aiming to educate them on how to intervene in uncomfortable situations.
“So they kind of reflect on, OK, what is the safest, most brave path that I can take in this moment,” said Noor Al-Saad, Playbook program manager at Project 351.
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Up stander instead of bystander
After attending today’s event, Chelsea Barnor, a participant of the program, told WBZ-TV she felt empowered to unify her own school by becoming an “up stander, rather than just a bystander.”
“I think it’s really important that we shed light on things in our communities and address these situations that can be hard to talk about,” Barnor said.
Today’s event was a training session for high school students like her to lead difficult discussions in their own communities.
“We hope incrementally by like equipping these young students with that ability, that they can change their school climate and culture year after year,” Al-Saad said.
In January, the high school trainers will be paired with middle school students for a mentorship program.
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Samantha Chaney
Samantha Chaney joined WBZ-TV in September 2024 as a multi-skilled journalist and reporter.