ZIP 13045 vs ZIP 13102

This side-by-side compares ZIP 13045 (Cortland, NY) and ZIP 13102 (Mc Lean, NY) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 13045 has a population of 30,112 at 109 people per square mile, while ZIP 13102 has 85 at 564 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 13045 reports a median household income of $69,961 against — in ZIP 13102, with per-capita income of $32,959 vs $42,233. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 31.1% in 13045 and 25.0% in 13102. Poverty rate reads 15.5% vs 0.0%, and unemployment 4.0% 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 $167,500 in 13045 versus — in 13102, with median rent of $981 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 58.3% vs 100.0%. 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.