ZIP 08731 vs ZIP 08757

This side-by-side compares ZIP 08731 (Forked River, NJ) and ZIP 08757 (Toms River, NJ) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 08731 has a population of 20,009 at 162 people per square mile, while ZIP 08757 has 33,217 at 498 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 08731 reports a median household income of $98,582 against $58,319 in ZIP 08757, with per-capita income of $48,139 vs $42,491. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 33.9% in 08731 and 18.8% in 08757. Poverty rate reads 6.2% vs 10.7%, and unemployment 6.2% vs 6.9% — 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 $404,200 in 08731 versus $285,000 in 08757, with median rent of $2,070 and $1,772 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 86.6% vs 87.1%. 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.