ZIP 07021 vs ZIP 07006

This side-by-side compares ZIP 07021 (Essex Fells, NJ) and ZIP 07006 (Caldwell, NJ) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 07021 has a population of 2,091 at 578 people per square mile, while ZIP 07006 has 24,812 at 1,022 per square mile. That difference in population size and density alone reshapes how every other metric should be interpreted — a higher-income ZIP with 1,200 residents behaves very differently from one with 45,000.

On income and education, ZIP 07021 reports a median household income of $250,001 against $149,102 in ZIP 07006, with per-capita income of $114,165 vs $73,792. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 81.3% in 07021 and 65.2% in 07006. Poverty rate reads 0.9% vs 4.6%, and unemployment 5.5% vs 4.6% — these four fields alone drive most of the difference in the scorecard grades you will see for each ZIP.

Housing separates these two ZIPs further: median home value sits at $1,083,000 in 07021 versus $694,400 in 07006, with median rent of $3,501 and $1,971 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 96.4% vs 71.9%. When reading the comparison table below, focus on paired metrics rather than single winners — a ZIP with lower home values and lower income is not strictly "worse" if rent-to-income ratios and commute times land in the same zone. Every value is pulled from the exact same ACS table so the two columns are genuinely comparable.