ZIP 11784 vs ZIP 11738

This side-by-side compares ZIP 11784 (Selden, NY) and ZIP 11738 (Farmingville, NY) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 11784 has a population of 24,655 at 1,742 people per square mile, while ZIP 11738 has 17,638 at 1,277 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 11784 reports a median household income of $104,369 against $140,121 in ZIP 11738, with per-capita income of $43,370 vs $43,201. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 29.2% in 11784 and 31.7% in 11738. Poverty rate reads 6.4% vs 7.1%, and unemployment 3.5% vs 4.1% — 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 $460,300 in 11784 versus $484,700 in 11738, with median rent of $2,240 and $2,903 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 84.0% vs 77.9%. 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.