ZIP 12590 vs ZIP 12524

This side-by-side compares ZIP 12590 (Wappingers Falls, NY) and ZIP 12524 (Fishkill, NY) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 12590 has a population of 35,102 at 393 people per square mile, while ZIP 12524 has 15,598 at 371 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 12590 reports a median household income of $102,285 against $99,034 in ZIP 12524, with per-capita income of $50,751 vs $55,299. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 39.5% in 12590 and 40.0% in 12524. Poverty rate reads 6.8% vs 3.7%, and unemployment 4.2% vs 6.0% — 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 $400,300 in 12590 versus $398,300 in 12524, with median rent of $1,747 and $1,911 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 69.5% vs 68.9%. 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.