ZIP 14206 vs ZIP 14212

This side-by-side compares ZIP 14206 (Buffalo, NY) and ZIP 14212 (Buffalo, NY) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 14206 has a population of 20,751 at 1,654 people per square mile, while ZIP 14212 has 10,641 at 2,157 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 14206 reports a median household income of $50,450 against $44,020 in ZIP 14212, with per-capita income of $27,095 vs $20,868. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 16.3% in 14206 and 13.3% in 14212. Poverty rate reads 21.6% vs 34.5%, and unemployment 8.6% vs 8.7% — 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 $125,100 in 14206 versus $103,400 in 14212, with median rent of $908 and $990 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 60.7% vs 52.8%. 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.