ZIP 08861 vs ZIP 08832

This side-by-side compares ZIP 08861 (Perth Amboy, NJ) and ZIP 08832 (Keasbey, NJ) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 08861 has a population of 53,099 at 3,986 people per square mile, while ZIP 08832 has 2,863 at 757 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 08861 reports a median household income of $64,491 against — in ZIP 08832, with per-capita income of $28,740 vs $27,202. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 16.4% in 08861 and 17.3% in 08832. Poverty rate reads 19.3% vs 31.1%, and unemployment 13.6% vs 6.7% — 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 $370,900 in 08861 versus $278,800 in 08832, with median rent of $1,675 and $1,685 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 37.5% vs 20.0%. 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.