ZIP 07076 vs ZIP 07023

This side-by-side compares ZIP 07076 (Scotch Plains, NJ) and ZIP 07023 (Fanwood, NJ) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 07076 has a population of 23,480 at 1,007 people per square mile, while ZIP 07023 has 7,318 at 2,109 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 07076 reports a median household income of $183,655 against $195,529 in ZIP 07023, with per-capita income of $75,070 vs $72,810. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 64.8% in 07076 and 73.0% in 07023. Poverty rate reads 2.5% vs 1.0%, and unemployment 3.2% vs 2.7% — 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 $718,200 in 07076 versus $635,200 in 07023, with median rent of $2,060 and $2,446 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 79.0% vs 84.9%. 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.