ZIP 11706 vs ZIP 11718

This side-by-side compares ZIP 11706 (Bay Shore, NY) and ZIP 11718 (Brightwaters, NY) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 11706 has a population of 62,543 at 1,417 people per square mile, while ZIP 11718 has 3,103 at 1,283 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 11706 reports a median household income of $119,603 against $218,000 in ZIP 11718, with per-capita income of $41,216 vs $80,489. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 26.7% in 11706 and 62.6% in 11718. Poverty rate reads 8.3% vs 0.2%, and unemployment 4.7% vs 4.4% — 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 $494,300 in 11706 versus $768,600 in 11718, with median rent of $2,025 and $1,728 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 75.0% vs 96.4%. 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.