ZIP 14020 vs ZIP 14005

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