ZIP 12885 vs ZIP 12817

This side-by-side compares ZIP 12885 (Warrensburg, NY) and ZIP 12817 (Chestertown, NY) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 12885 has a population of 4,602 at 25 people per square mile, while ZIP 12817 has 2,274 at 16 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 12885 reports a median household income of $59,429 against $93,393 in ZIP 12817, with per-capita income of $42,940 vs $44,300. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 18.5% in 12885 and 41.2% in 12817. Poverty rate reads 14.5% vs 8.7%, and unemployment 2.1% vs 3.5% — 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 $169,800 in 12885 versus $327,600 in 12817, with median rent of $905 and $816 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 77.9% vs 83.8%. 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.