ZIP 12547 vs ZIP 12542

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