ZIP 12930 vs ZIP 12916

This side-by-side compares ZIP 12930 (Dickinson Center, NY) and ZIP 12916 (Brushton, NY) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 12930 has a population of 634 at 7 people per square mile, while ZIP 12916 has 2,135 at 20 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 12930 reports a median household income of $68,603 against $69,833 in ZIP 12916, with per-capita income of $34,606 vs $33,406. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 12.5% in 12930 and 17.7% in 12916. Poverty rate reads 13.5% vs 19.4%, and unemployment 2.6% vs 5.9% — 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 $101,600 in 12930 versus $94,700 in 12916, with median rent of $1,167 and $803 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 89.9% vs 74.4%. 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.