ZIP 12496 vs ZIP 12444

This side-by-side compares ZIP 12496 (Windham, NY) and ZIP 12444 (Jewett, NY) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 12496 has a population of 1,634 at 13 people per square mile, while ZIP 12444 has 497 at 12 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 12496 reports a median household income of $59,286 against $77,708 in ZIP 12444, with per-capita income of $59,156 vs $40,746. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 48.6% in 12496 and 43.4% in 12444. Poverty rate reads 10.4% vs 5.6%, and unemployment 2.1% vs 6.2% — 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 $314,200 in 12496 versus $377,300 in 12444, with median rent of $794 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 88.7% vs 95.6%. 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.