ZIP 12742 vs ZIP 12734

This side-by-side compares ZIP 12742 (Harris, NY) and ZIP 12734 (Ferndale, NY) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 12742 has a population of 181 at 33 people per square mile, while ZIP 12734 has 867 at 24 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 12742 reports a median household income of $148,160 against $56,740 in ZIP 12734, with per-capita income of $54,295 vs $25,716. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 12.8% in 12742 and 35.2% in 12734. Poverty rate reads 3.2% vs 10.1%, and unemployment 0.0% vs 1.7% — 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 $328,000 in 12742 versus $382,800 in 12734, with median rent of — and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 88.9% vs 73.3%. 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.