ZIP 11778 vs ZIP 11786

This side-by-side compares ZIP 11778 (Rocky Point, NY) and ZIP 11786 (Shoreham, NY) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 11778 has a population of 12,709 at 717 people per square mile, while ZIP 11786 has 6,344 at 426 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 11778 reports a median household income of $126,349 against $163,466 in ZIP 11786, with per-capita income of $53,165 vs $59,971. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 36.8% in 11778 and 47.8% in 11786. Poverty rate reads 2.2% vs 3.6%, and unemployment 6.1% vs 4.3% — 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 $456,500 in 11778 versus $604,700 in 11786, with median rent of $2,324 and $1,809 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 88.8% vs 95.7%. 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.