ZIP 13431 vs ZIP 13304

This side-by-side compares ZIP 13431 (Poland, NY) and ZIP 13304 (Barneveld, NY) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 13431 has a population of 2,069 at 22 people per square mile, while ZIP 13304 has 1,684 at 37 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 13431 reports a median household income of $76,000 against $108,587 in ZIP 13304, with per-capita income of $37,753 vs $60,040. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 26.3% in 13431 and 51.4% in 13304. Poverty rate reads 10.1% vs 9.4%, and unemployment 8.2% vs 2.7% — 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 $245,100 in 13431 versus $300,000 in 13304, with median rent of $768 and $1,297 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 85.3% vs 76.8%. 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.