ZIP 08243 vs ZIP 08230

This side-by-side compares ZIP 08243 (Sea Isle City, NJ) and ZIP 08230 (Ocean View, NJ) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 08243 has a population of 2,114 at 370 people per square mile, while ZIP 08230 has 5,599 at 172 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 08243 reports a median household income of $108,359 against $115,152 in ZIP 08230, with per-capita income of $88,974 vs $53,507. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 48.7% in 08243 and 45.1% in 08230. Poverty rate reads 5.4% vs 3.1%, and unemployment 7.1% vs 1.8% — 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 $1,087,300 in 08243 versus $410,200 in 08230, with median rent of — and $1,864 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 92.7% vs 94.9%. 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.