ZIP 14120 vs ZIP 14228

This side-by-side compares ZIP 14120 (North Tonawanda, NY) and ZIP 14228 (Buffalo, NY) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 14120 has a population of 45,100 at 529 people per square mile, while ZIP 14228 has 20,857 at 509 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 14120 reports a median household income of $74,871 against $74,871 in ZIP 14228, with per-capita income of $41,637 vs $40,526. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 31.0% in 14120 and 48.5% in 14228. Poverty rate reads 10.3% vs 17.0%, and unemployment 5.1% vs 7.4% — 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 $222,500 in 14120 versus $274,600 in 14228, with median rent of $954 and $1,334 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 72.5% vs 53.1%. 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.