ZIP 08854 vs ZIP 08846

This side-by-side compares ZIP 08854 (Piscataway, NJ) and ZIP 08846 (Middlesex, NJ) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 08854 has a population of 55,961 at 1,149 people per square mile, while ZIP 08846 has 13,635 at 1,510 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 08854 reports a median household income of $127,806 against $105,000 in ZIP 08846, with per-capita income of $44,874 vs $51,617. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 48.8% in 08854 and 36.9% in 08846. Poverty rate reads 3.9% vs 11.3%, and unemployment 8.0% vs 3.6% — 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 $449,900 in 08854 versus $446,400 in 08846, with median rent of $2,019 and $1,416 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 64.0% vs 73.9%. 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.