ZIP 12481 vs ZIP 12412

This side-by-side compares ZIP 12481 (Shokan, NY) and ZIP 12412 (Boiceville, NY) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 12481 has a population of 1,356 at 42 people per square mile, while ZIP 12412 has 673 at 43 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 12481 reports a median household income of $124,286 against $82,195 in ZIP 12412, with per-capita income of $60,573 vs $44,588. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 30.4% in 12481 and 51.7% in 12412. Poverty rate reads 7.0% vs 16.4%, and unemployment 22.2% vs 3.9% — 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 $303,900 in 12481 versus $413,000 in 12412, with median rent of $2,291 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 88.4% vs 93.4%. 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.