ZIP 12176 vs ZIP 12042

This side-by-side compares ZIP 12176 (Surprise, NY) and ZIP 12042 (Climax, NY) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 12176 has a population of 198 at 23 people per square mile, while ZIP 12042 has 271 at 24 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 12176 reports a median household income of $63,565 against — in ZIP 12042, with per-capita income of $26,679 vs $50,551. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 14.8% in 12176 and 12.9% in 12042. Poverty rate reads 2.9% vs 0.0%, and unemployment 0.0% 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 $204,200 in 12176 versus $115,200 in 12042, with median rent of — and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 83.6% vs 41.1%. 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.