ZIP 11769 vs ZIP 11796

This side-by-side compares ZIP 11769 (Oakdale, NY) and ZIP 11796 (West Sayville, NY) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 11769 has a population of 9,506 at 866 people per square mile, while ZIP 11796 has 4,056 at 1,150 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 11769 reports a median household income of $123,558 against $173,472 in ZIP 11796, with per-capita income of $63,142 vs $68,610. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 44.9% in 11769 and 42.6% in 11796. Poverty rate reads 6.4% vs 2.9%, and unemployment 3.2% vs 1.5% — 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 $607,000 in 11769 versus $594,200 in 11796, with median rent of $2,239 and $2,635 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 84.8% vs 79.2%. 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.