ZIP 14012 vs ZIP 14008

This side-by-side compares ZIP 14012 (Barker, NY) and ZIP 14008 (Appleton, NY) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 14012 has a population of 2,362 at 28 people per square mile, while ZIP 14008 has 1,467 at 23 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 14012 reports a median household income of $72,083 against $77,702 in ZIP 14008, with per-capita income of $35,744 vs $46,544. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 23.5% in 14012 and 18.7% in 14008. Poverty rate reads 13.5% vs 3.2%, and unemployment 3.9% 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 $172,800 in 14012 versus $188,700 in 14008, with median rent of $715 and $629 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 87.4% vs 76.1%. 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.