ZIP 14861 vs ZIP 14901

This side-by-side compares ZIP 14861 (Lowman, NY) and ZIP 14901 (Elmira, NY) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 14861 has a population of 1,404 at 16 people per square mile, while ZIP 14901 has 16,736 at 173 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 14861 reports a median household income of $64,904 against $40,989 in ZIP 14901, with per-capita income of $38,899 vs $21,391. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 16.2% in 14861 and 16.3% in 14901. Poverty rate reads 7.1% vs 29.7%, and unemployment 4.0% vs 6.7% — 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 $149,100 in 14861 versus $93,800 in 14901, with median rent of $1,137 and $873 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 82.9% vs 49.8%. 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.