ZIP 12522 vs ZIP 12594

This side-by-side compares ZIP 12522 (Dover Plains, NY) and ZIP 12594 (Wingdale, NY) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 12522 has a population of 5,172 at 53 people per square mile, while ZIP 12594 has 4,275 at 69 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 12522 reports a median household income of $76,157 against $144,202 in ZIP 12594, with per-capita income of $47,322 vs $50,759. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 25.3% in 12522 and 36.2% in 12594. Poverty rate reads 13.8% vs 7.1%, and unemployment 7.5% vs 1.3% — 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 $301,300 in 12522 versus $385,000 in 12594, with median rent of $1,351 and $1,163 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 63.7% vs 78.0%. 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.