ZIP 12203 vs ZIP 12222

This side-by-side compares ZIP 12203 (Albany, NY) and ZIP 12222 (Albany, NY) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 12203 has a population of 29,952 at 1,014 people per square mile, while ZIP 12222 has 6,489 at 4,591 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 12203 reports a median household income of $83,147 against — in ZIP 12222, with per-capita income of $49,686 vs $6,752. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 56.9% in 12203 and 81.4% in 12222. Poverty rate reads 13.9% vs 0.0%, and unemployment 4.1% vs 17.1% — 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 $279,500 in 12203 versus — in 12222, with median rent of $1,409 and $2,242 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 49.5% vs 0.0%. 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.