ZIP 08882 vs ZIP 08816

This side-by-side compares ZIP 08882 (South River, NJ) and ZIP 08816 (East Brunswick, NJ) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 08882 has a population of 16,008 at 2,227 people per square mile, while ZIP 08816 has 46,298 at 868 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 08882 reports a median household income of $96,147 against $143,586 in ZIP 08816, with per-capita income of $42,301 vs $61,061. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 27.9% in 08882 and 58.4% in 08816. Poverty rate reads 12.5% vs 5.8%, and unemployment 7.7% vs 4.6% — 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 $405,200 in 08882 versus $522,700 in 08816, with median rent of $1,675 and $2,044 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 65.6% vs 79.7%. 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.