ZIP 14139 vs ZIP 14169

This side-by-side compares ZIP 14139 (South Wales, NY) and ZIP 14169 (Wales Center, NY) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 14139 has a population of 2,125 at 34 people per square mile, while ZIP 14169 has 151 at 189 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 14139 reports a median household income of $86,402 against $61,782 in ZIP 14169, with per-capita income of $38,910 vs $64,560. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 32.7% in 14139 and 0.0% in 14169. Poverty rate reads 7.2% vs 0.0%, and unemployment 1.9% 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 $285,100 in 14139 versus $9,999 in 14169, with median rent of $1,694 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 86.6% vs 100.0%. 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.