ZIP 11792 vs ZIP 11786

This side-by-side compares ZIP 11792 (Wading River, 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 11792 has a population of 8,523 at 334 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 11792 reports a median household income of $146,174 against $163,466 in ZIP 11786, with per-capita income of $61,350 vs $59,971. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 46.8% in 11792 and 47.8% in 11786. Poverty rate reads 2.4% vs 3.6%, and unemployment 5.6% 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 $597,300 in 11792 versus $604,700 in 11786, with median rent of — and $1,809 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 99.5% 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.