ZIP 12542 vs ZIP 12547

This side-by-side compares ZIP 12542 (Marlboro, NY) and ZIP 12547 (Milton, NY) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 12542 has a population of 5,913 at 160 people per square mile, while ZIP 12547 has 2,891 at 108 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 12542 reports a median household income of $121,378 against $88,778 in ZIP 12547, with per-capita income of $60,909 vs $55,077. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 44.3% in 12542 and 36.2% in 12547. Poverty rate reads 3.8% vs 22.5%, and unemployment 5.3% vs 3.0% — 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 $416,000 in 12542 versus $377,200 in 12547, with median rent of $1,955 and $1,909 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 73.0% vs 71.5%. 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.