ZIP 12202 vs ZIP 12209

This side-by-side compares ZIP 12202 (Albany, NY) and ZIP 12209 (Albany, NY) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 12202 has a population of 9,628 at 1,817 people per square mile, while ZIP 12209 has 10,121 at 1,825 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 12202 reports a median household income of $52,868 against $89,390 in ZIP 12209, with per-capita income of $28,446 vs $42,042. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 29.7% in 12202 and 46.9% in 12209. Poverty rate reads 31.4% vs 7.5%, and unemployment 15.0% vs 3.7% — 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 $166,000 in 12202 versus $217,100 in 12209, with median rent of $1,064 and $1,198 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 25.6% vs 66.0%. 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.