ZIP 11557 vs ZIP 11518

This side-by-side compares ZIP 11557 (Hewlett, NY) and ZIP 11518 (East Rockaway, NY) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 11557 has a population of 7,823 at 1,494 people per square mile, while ZIP 11518 has 10,549 at 2,964 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 11557 reports a median household income of $176,274 against $117,052 in ZIP 11518, with per-capita income of $69,716 vs $66,039. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 70.0% in 11557 and 48.2% in 11518. Poverty rate reads 6.2% vs 2.6%, and unemployment 3.0% vs 3.3% — 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 $776,400 in 11557 versus $588,100 in 11518, with median rent of $1,434 and $2,499 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 90.4% vs 82.8%. 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.