ZIP 12059 vs ZIP 12186

This side-by-side compares ZIP 12059 (East Berne, NY) and ZIP 12186 (Voorheesville, NY) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 12059 has a population of 1,632 at 24 people per square mile, while ZIP 12186 has 6,277 at 77 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 12059 reports a median household income of $106,506 against $112,446 in ZIP 12186, with per-capita income of $52,959 vs $62,451. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 33.1% in 12059 and 52.7% in 12186. Poverty rate reads 2.5% vs 8.0%, and unemployment 11.7% vs 5.8% — 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 $340,400 in 12059 versus $360,000 in 12186, with median rent of $985 and $1,175 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 91.1% vs 84.1%. 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.