ZIP 12031 vs ZIP 12166

This side-by-side compares ZIP 12031 (Carlisle, NY) and ZIP 12166 (Sprakers, NY) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 12031 has a population of 175 at 21 people per square mile, while ZIP 12166 has 1,363 at 12 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 12031 reports a median household income of $87,143 against $94,821 in ZIP 12166, with per-capita income of $43,303 vs $33,609. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 24.5% in 12031 and 28.2% in 12166. Poverty rate reads 10.0% vs 4.0%, and unemployment 0.0% vs 1.2% — 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 $270,200 in 12031 versus $219,400 in 12166, with median rent of — and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 94.6% vs 93.4%. 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.