ZIP 12043 vs ZIP 12031

This side-by-side compares ZIP 12043 (Cobleskill, NY) and ZIP 12031 (Carlisle, NY) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 12043 has a population of 8,509 at 53 people per square mile, while ZIP 12031 has 175 at 21 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 12043 reports a median household income of $64,583 against $87,143 in ZIP 12031, with per-capita income of $35,308 vs $43,303. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 29.1% in 12043 and 24.5% in 12031. Poverty rate reads 14.0% vs 10.0%, and unemployment 5.3% vs 0.0% — 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 $186,000 in 12043 versus $270,200 in 12031, with median rent of $875 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 58.4% vs 94.6%. 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.