ZIP 12523 vs ZIP 12502

This side-by-side compares ZIP 12523 (Elizaville, NY) and ZIP 12502 (Ancram, NY) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 12523 has a population of 1,798 at 32 people per square mile, while ZIP 12502 has 1,164 at 14 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 12523 reports a median household income of $54,235 against $85,192 in ZIP 12502, with per-capita income of $39,780 vs $56,176. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 27.9% in 12523 and 38.5% in 12502. Poverty rate reads 11.2% vs 6.3%, and unemployment 11.7% vs 10.9% — 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 $343,400 in 12523 versus $370,500 in 12502, with median rent of $1,294 and $1,160 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 81.0% vs 93.5%. 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.