ZIP 14221 vs ZIP 14026

This side-by-side compares ZIP 14221 (Buffalo, NY) and ZIP 14026 (Bowmansville, NY) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 14221 has a population of 53,555 at 899 people per square mile, while ZIP 14026 has 674 at 344 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 14221 reports a median household income of $101,615 against $88,750 in ZIP 14026, with per-capita income of $56,851 vs $52,982. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 57.3% in 14221 and 45.4% in 14026. Poverty rate reads 7.1% vs 2.3%, and unemployment 2.6% 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 $329,600 in 14221 versus $261,900 in 14026, with median rent of $1,603 and $2,338 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 75.0% vs 85.1%. 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.