ZIP 12887 vs ZIP 12821

This side-by-side compares ZIP 12887 (Whitehall, NY) and ZIP 12821 (Comstock, NY) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 12887 has a population of 4,972 at 23 people per square mile, while ZIP 12821 has 2,750 at 191 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 12887 reports a median household income of $56,709 against — in ZIP 12821, with per-capita income of $26,403 vs $3,853. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 13.2% in 12887 and 3.2% in 12821. Poverty rate reads 19.2% vs 7.5%, and unemployment 7.7% 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 $123,400 in 12887 versus $212,500 in 12821, with median rent of $972 and $856 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 73.0% vs 42.2%. 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.