ZIP 07860 vs ZIP 07871

This side-by-side compares ZIP 07860 (Newton, NJ) and ZIP 07871 (Sparta, NJ) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 07860 has a population of 26,288 at 101 people per square mile, while ZIP 07871 has 21,165 at 216 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 07860 reports a median household income of $110,045 against $167,654 in ZIP 07871, with per-capita income of $54,158 vs $75,262. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 38.8% in 07860 and 62.4% in 07871. Poverty rate reads 8.6% vs 3.9%, and unemployment 6.6% vs 5.3% — 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 $367,100 in 07860 versus $479,700 in 07871, with median rent of $1,514 and $1,855 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 80.4% vs 87.8%. 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.