ZIP 14005 vs ZIP 14020

This side-by-side compares ZIP 14005 (Alexander, NY) and ZIP 14020 (Batavia, NY) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 14005 has a population of 1,986 at 23 people per square mile, while ZIP 14020 has 23,306 at 130 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 14005 reports a median household income of $105,082 against $62,655 in ZIP 14020, with per-capita income of $37,661 vs $38,800. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 26.5% in 14005 and 23.7% in 14020. Poverty rate reads 2.8% vs 12.8%, and unemployment 7.3% vs 5.8% — 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 $192,600 in 14005 versus $160,800 in 14020, with median rent of $1,314 and $937 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 86.1% vs 63.0%. 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.