ZIP 11217 vs ZIP 11238

This side-by-side compares ZIP 11217 (Brooklyn, NY) and ZIP 11238 (Brooklyn, NY) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 11217 has a population of 35,881 at 18,472 people per square mile, while ZIP 11238 has 49,262 at 17,189 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 11217 reports a median household income of $162,863 against $134,523 in ZIP 11238, with per-capita income of $111,192 vs $89,023. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 72.0% in 11217 and 73.3% in 11238. Poverty rate reads 9.6% vs 12.2%, 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 $1,636,500 in 11217 versus $1,099,700 in 11238, with median rent of $2,888 and $2,616 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 27.8% vs 27.7%. 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.