ZIP 12303 vs ZIP 12309

This side-by-side compares ZIP 12303 (Schenectady, NY) and ZIP 12309 (Schenectady, NY) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 12303 has a population of 29,857 at 749 people per square mile, while ZIP 12309 has 29,343 at 684 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 12303 reports a median household income of $84,375 against $125,274 in ZIP 12309, with per-capita income of $42,628 vs $57,884. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 35.8% in 12303 and 61.1% in 12309. Poverty rate reads 14.2% vs 5.2%, and unemployment 4.8% vs 3.3% — 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 $238,100 in 12303 versus $330,700 in 12309, with median rent of $1,140 and $1,499 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 74.1% vs 81.7%. 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.