ZIP 12144 vs ZIP 12202

This side-by-side compares ZIP 12144 (Rensselaer, NY) and ZIP 12202 (Albany, NY) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 12144 has a population of 20,555 at 419 people per square mile, while ZIP 12202 has 9,628 at 1,817 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 12144 reports a median household income of $90,738 against $52,868 in ZIP 12202, with per-capita income of $46,062 vs $28,446. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 38.1% in 12144 and 29.7% in 12202. Poverty rate reads 11.0% vs 31.4%, and unemployment 3.6% vs 15.0% — 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 $249,700 in 12144 versus $166,000 in 12202, with median rent of $1,366 and $1,064 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 59.0% vs 25.6%. 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.