ZIP 12159 vs ZIP 12054

This side-by-side compares ZIP 12159 (Slingerlands, NY) and ZIP 12054 (Delmar, NY) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 12159 has a population of 7,896 at 216 people per square mile, while ZIP 12054 has 16,918 at 423 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 12159 reports a median household income of $128,306 against $129,583 in ZIP 12054, with per-capita income of $80,611 vs $63,250. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 65.7% in 12159 and 69.1% in 12054. Poverty rate reads 4.7% vs 3.6%, and unemployment 3.2% vs 2.7% — 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 $449,900 in 12159 versus $354,500 in 12054, with median rent of $1,729 and $1,756 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 74.6% vs 73.9%. 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.