ZIP 14836 vs ZIP 14884

This side-by-side compares ZIP 14836 (Dalton, NY) and ZIP 14884 (Swain, NY) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 14836 has a population of 1,009 at 13 people per square mile, while ZIP 14884 has 273 at 6 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 14836 reports a median household income of $74,130 against $48,750 in ZIP 14884, with per-capita income of $42,210 vs $34,359. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 15.2% in 14836 and 20.6% in 14884. Poverty rate reads 8.6% vs 10.8%, and unemployment 7.6% vs 3.5% — 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 $114,500 in 14836 versus $118,900 in 14884, with median rent of $1,108 and $920 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 92.2% vs 90.5%. 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.