ZIP 12981 vs ZIP 12978

This side-by-side compares ZIP 12981 (Saranac, NY) and ZIP 12978 (Redford, NY) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 12981 has a population of 2,253 at 8 people per square mile, while ZIP 12978 has 403 at 60 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 12981 reports a median household income of $76,450 against $98,958 in ZIP 12978, with per-capita income of $30,539 vs $29,713. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 23.6% in 12981 and 5.8% in 12978. Poverty rate reads 19.4% vs 7.4%, and unemployment 0.0% 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 $182,300 in 12981 versus $70,500 in 12978, with median rent of $901 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 91.6% vs 94.9%. 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.