ZIP 14127 vs ZIP 14224

This side-by-side compares ZIP 14127 (Orchard Park, NY) and ZIP 14224 (Buffalo, NY) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 14127 has a population of 29,961 at 281 people per square mile, while ZIP 14224 has 39,889 at 760 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 14127 reports a median household income of $109,386 against $80,052 in ZIP 14224, with per-capita income of $60,418 vs $43,667. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 52.6% in 14127 and 35.0% in 14224. Poverty rate reads 7.0% vs 8.5%, and unemployment 4.7% vs 4.8% — 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 $364,900 in 14127 versus $238,500 in 14224, with median rent of $1,270 and $1,129 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 74.0% vs 76.2%. 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.