ZIP 14217 vs ZIP 14150

This side-by-side compares ZIP 14217 (Buffalo, NY) and ZIP 14150 (Tonawanda, NY) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 14217 has a population of 23,480 at 2,822 people per square mile, while ZIP 14150 has 41,676 at 1,077 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 14217 reports a median household income of $73,800 against $71,406 in ZIP 14150, with per-capita income of $43,076 vs $41,514. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 42.7% in 14217 and 33.7% in 14150. Poverty rate reads 10.6% vs 10.6%, and unemployment 5.4% vs 4.3% — 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 $207,500 in 14217 versus $200,700 in 14150, with median rent of $1,026 and $1,132 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 66.0% vs 72.1%. 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.