ZIP 11763 vs ZIP 11980

This side-by-side compares ZIP 11763 (Medford, NY) and ZIP 11980 (Yaphank, NY) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 11763 has a population of 28,506 at 796 people per square mile, while ZIP 11980 has 4,990 at 147 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 11763 reports a median household income of $120,783 against $102,600 in ZIP 11980, with per-capita income of $44,046 vs $54,643. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 28.2% in 11763 and 38.7% in 11980. Poverty rate reads 8.8% vs 3.4%, and unemployment 5.4% vs 1.7% — 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 $464,600 in 11763 versus $450,100 in 11980, with median rent of $2,415 and $2,955 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 88.5% vs 69.9%. 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.