ZIP 12916 vs ZIP 12957

This side-by-side compares ZIP 12916 (Brushton, NY) and ZIP 12957 (Moira, NY) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 12916 has a population of 2,135 at 20 people per square mile, while ZIP 12957 has 1,726 at 21 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 12916 reports a median household income of $69,833 against $54,572 in ZIP 12957, with per-capita income of $33,406 vs $30,513. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 17.7% in 12916 and 16.3% in 12957. Poverty rate reads 19.4% vs 28.0%, and unemployment 5.9% vs 9.3% — 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 $94,700 in 12916 versus $87,600 in 12957, with median rent of $803 and $800 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 74.4% vs 63.6%. 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.