ZIP 08850 vs ZIP 08901

This side-by-side compares ZIP 08850 (Milltown, NJ) and ZIP 08901 (New Brunswick, NJ) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 08850 has a population of 8,281 at 1,302 people per square mile, while ZIP 08901 has 55,223 at 3,343 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 08850 reports a median household income of $141,601 against $65,810 in ZIP 08901, with per-capita income of $63,105 vs $25,133. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 45.0% in 08850 and 23.5% in 08901. Poverty rate reads 1.5% vs 32.0%, and unemployment 3.6% vs 8.0% — 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 $470,700 in 08850 versus $353,800 in 08901, with median rent of $1,218 and $1,814 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 84.7% vs 21.4%. 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.