ZIP 12886 vs ZIP 12862

This side-by-side compares ZIP 12886 (Wevertown, NY) and ZIP 12862 (Riparius, NY) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 12886 has a population of 269 at 7 people per square mile, while ZIP 12862 has 17 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 12886 reports a median household income of $127,649 against — in ZIP 12862, with per-capita income of $48,545 vs $78,892. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 53.8% in 12886 and 68.5% in 12862. Poverty rate reads 7.0% vs 0.0%, and unemployment 13.7% 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 $342,700 in 12886 versus $204,800 in 12862, with median rent of — and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 100.0% vs 71.3%. 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.