ZIP 13861 vs ZIP 13796

This side-by-side compares ZIP 13861 (West Oneonta, NY) and ZIP 13796 (Laurens, NY) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 13861 has a population of 432 at 38 people per square mile, while ZIP 13796 has 1,236 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 13861 reports a median household income of $57,847 against $88,750 in ZIP 13796, with per-capita income of $58,165 vs $37,830. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 57.0% in 13861 and 33.2% in 13796. Poverty rate reads 1.3% vs 5.1%, and unemployment 0.9% vs 3.1% — 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 $186,000 in 13861 versus $166,900 in 13796, with median rent of — and $1,096 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 60.1% vs 81.8%. 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.