household income map of Boston area

[Lampert]

Originally Posted by Bettafish

It's not about what "I think", it is about the data they provide. I always think Ptown is liberal.
One thing I noticed is their political map is not granular, and Yarmouth has the same color as Provincetown. That might be one reason too. In 2020, Biden got 59% votes in Yarmouth, and 58% in Barnstable. The whole Cape Code is indeed quite in the middle of the road compared to Boston area.

If you check their text explanation: "Provincetown tends to be slightly democratic based on voting results in recent elections. Compared to other nearby cities, Provincetown has more democratic voters. Compared to the nation as a whole, Provincetown leans more democratic.
... ...
Note: Federal, local, and state elections are weighed based on the recency of the election and the importance most voters assign to each seat."

It's unclear how they assign the color code.

Who cares how it is compared to Boston? This isn't a "compared to Boston" thing. It's a nation thing. Provincetown is MORE democratic than Boston. In fact it is in the top 3 most democratic cities/towns in MA. Provincetown isn't slightly democratic. I just posted the recent results the democrats lead 80 points in federal elections do you want more? No problem, 2012 Obama 88%, 2008 Obama 86%, 2004 Kerry 86%, 2000 Gore 79%, 1996 Clinton 80% do you need more to establish that no Provincetown isn't slightly democratic it's extremely democratic in modern times? The 1994 gubernatorial election is the last state-wide major election the democratic party lost in Provincetown.....slightly democratic, what's next Wyoming is middle of the road?

[Bettafish]

Originally Posted by Lampert

Who cares how it is compared to Boston? This isn't a "compared to Boston" thing. It's a nation thing. Provincetown is MORE democratic than Boston. In fact it is in the top 3 most democratic cities/towns in MA. Provincetown isn't slightly democratic. I just posted the recent results the democrats lead 80 points in federal elections do you want more? No problem, 2012 Obama 88%, 2008 Obama 86%, 2004 Kerry 86%, 2000 Gore 79%, 1996 Clinton 80% do you need more to establish that no Provincetown isn't slightly democratic it's extremely democratic in modern times? The 1994 gubernatorial election is the last state-wide major election the democratic party lost in Provincetown.....slightly democratic, what's next Wyoming is middle of the road?

I already told you their political map is not quite granular and it is possible that the Cape Cod towns are lumped together to calculate the values. Yarmouth etc. are quite in the middle of the road, no matter you compare them to Boston or the whole country.

It is weird you totally ignore such an important statement in my post.

What is your question of that?

[massnative71]

Originally Posted by mwj119

The entire point was that people moving in or up in towns like Braintree, are well off.

Not sure what your counterpoint is.

That might have been your point, but you were obviously not clear about it at first and I wanted to correct some conflicting statements. Let's move on.

[Lampert]

Originally Posted by Bettafish

I already told you their political map is not quite granular and it is possible that the Cape Cod towns are lumped together to calculate the values. Yarmouth etc. are quite in the middle of the road, no matter you compare them to Boston or the whole country.

It is weird you totally ignore such an important statement in my post.

What is your question of that?

Which would make the map pointless, which is exactly what I am saying. I don't think this map is trustworthy so I am wondering about the other maps too.

And the map is pretty granular in some places. Acushnet, Rochester and Wareham are adjacent to each other and are 3 different colors. You mentioned Yarmouth and Barnstable but they aren't the same color as Provincetown.

[L00k4ward]

Originally Posted by Bos2014

Yes, that Weston number surprised me as well. These numbers were pulled straight from the MA Department of Revenue website, as opposed to the census, and are supposed to be current (2021) data.



There's a number of potential explanations for this discrepancy, including a possible error in the DOR data file. Another possibility is that there is a group of people who live in Weston and who have done extremely well during the pandemic, and their income is skewing the mean point estimates for this municipality ---- which is very possible in a small town such as Weston (where there is a low population).



Keep in mind that these are 2021 mean statistics, from the DOR; the census data that you cite is 2019 median statistics (i.e. not per capita)and is therefore less subject to skew/kurtosis.



That said, I thought the results for the other municipalities on the list made a lot of sense when considering the demographic profile of the residents (e.g. students).

A simple explanation for Weston and alike reported incomes
To show high income means to work.

Very wealthy have other sources of wealth which wouldn’t be qualified as income.
Add a legal creative accounting- no income or very little to show

[smc733]

Originally Posted by airunxc

what that showed me is that there still some potential good real estate investments where there is room for growth. Downtown Ashland I would say was one that really stood out. Walkable to train, a few restaurants, but lower income than many other town centers. What Natick was 10-15 years ago. Any others jump off the page like that one?

The Nyanza Chemical Waste Dump likely has something to do with it. Estimates are it could take 200+ (not a typo) years to fully clean it up. The contaminant in the water has found to be harmful even just airborne from water vapors.

It is a very nice town with great schools, but I would not live there. And I usually find most reactions to superfund sites to be overblown.