ZIP 08701 vs ZIP 07055

This side-by-side compares ZIP 08701 (Lakewood, NJ) and ZIP 07055 (Passaic, NJ) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 08701 has a population of 92,843 at 1,456 people per square mile, while ZIP 07055 has 69,816 at 8,592 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 08701 reports a median household income of $64,959 against $55,371 in ZIP 07055, with per-capita income of $23,089 vs $24,489. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 33.8% in 08701 and 16.7% in 07055. Poverty rate reads 24.8% vs 22.9%, and unemployment 5.8% vs 12.5% — 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 $466,100 in 08701 versus $429,900 in 07055, with median rent of $1,774 and $1,465 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 51.5% vs 23.8%. 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.