ZIP 12503 vs ZIP 12516

This side-by-side compares ZIP 12503 (Ancramdale, NY) and ZIP 12516 (Copake, NY) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 12503 has a population of 775 at 14 people per square mile, while ZIP 12516 has 1,833 at 46 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 12503 reports a median household income of $117,935 against $128,750 in ZIP 12516, with per-capita income of $58,968 vs $69,053. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 50.1% in 12503 and 36.6% in 12516. Poverty rate reads 8.1% vs 12.5%, and unemployment 2.1% vs 1.1% — 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 $506,500 in 12503 versus $309,700 in 12516, with median rent of $1,052 and $2,273 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 86.9% vs 93.9%. 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.