ZIP 14214 vs ZIP 14216

This side-by-side compares ZIP 14214 (Buffalo, NY) and ZIP 14216 (Buffalo, NY) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 14214 has a population of 19,775 at 2,667 people per square mile, while ZIP 14216 has 22,431 at 3,124 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 14214 reports a median household income of $58,228 against $69,629 in ZIP 14216, with per-capita income of $35,601 vs $48,370. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 47.5% in 14214 and 54.0% in 14216. Poverty rate reads 25.4% vs 15.3%, and unemployment 5.8% vs 4.9% — 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 $240,800 in 14214 versus $294,700 in 14216, with median rent of $1,131 and $1,211 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 42.3% vs 45.6%. 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.