ZIP 12836 vs ZIP 12874

This side-by-side compares ZIP 12836 (Hague, NY) and ZIP 12874 (Silver Bay, NY) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 12836 has a population of 574 at 5 people per square mile, while ZIP 12874 has 142 at 3 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 12836 reports a median household income of $80,221 against $158,500 in ZIP 12874, with per-capita income of $52,883 vs $73,094. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 38.2% in 12836 and 60.1% in 12874. Poverty rate reads 12.0% vs 13.2%, and unemployment 6.4% vs 0.0% — 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 $322,200 in 12836 versus — in 12874, with median rent of $570 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 87.0% vs 81.3%. 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.