12903Plattsburgh, New York

Area Profile

Income, jobs, climate, physical risk and development data for ZIP code 12903.

58out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 44% of 5,298 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Opportunity4111th of 6,210 ZIP areas measured47
Growth2987th of 5,428 ZIP areas measured47
Housing affordabilityTop 45% of 6,685 ZIP areas measured83
Climate6332nd of 6,789 ZIP areas measured56
Physical resilience3614th of 6,709 ZIP areas measured54
Access3884th of 6,791 ZIP areas measured90
Economic stability3772nd of 6,742 ZIP areas measured56
The quick read

Unemployment is 4.2% and median household income $77,733, putting employment conditions in the middle range of published ZIP profiles.

Rent takes 25% of median household income here, below the 30% threshold conventionally called cost-burdened, and the median home is 2.7 times that income.

A major airport is 0 miles away, giving the area unusually direct access to the national air network.

At a glance

Population
1,824
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$77,733
Top 41% nationally
Density
430/sq mi
4.2 sq mi of land
Median age
50.3
2024 ACS 5-Year
City
Plattsburgh
New York
Metro area
Plattsburgh, NY
Nearest major airport
PBG
0 mi · Plattsburgh Intl
Median home value
$210,400
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.2% is lower than 60% of the 6,544 measured US ZIP areas.

Employment fell 2.0% over the past year, to 32,326 employed residents.

53% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 89% of measured US ZIP areas.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Median household income ±$13,804$77,733Top 41%of 31,2952024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$13,057$56,487Top 13%of 32,8222024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate7.3%Bottom 32%of 32,9702024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute18.6 minBottom 9%of 32,8872024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher52.6%Top 11%of 33,1932024 ACS 5-Year
Employment32,326Bottom 33%of 6,544June 2026
Employment change (3 years)-6.0%Bottom 2%of 6,542June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-2.0%Bottom 18%of 6,544June 2026
Labor force33,727Bottom 33%of 6,544June 2026
Labor force participation56.5%Bottom 35%of 33,2522024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)0.4%Top 34%of 6,544June 2026
Unemployment rate4.2%Bottom 40%of 6,544June 2026
Median household income, successive ACS releases
202120222023202478k75k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $77,733 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish labor-force data for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Plattsburgh, NY, the city containing this ZIP code.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $1,642 takes 25% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 2.7 times median household income here, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Rent as a share of income
25.3%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.7×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,642
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$210,400
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Home price to income2.71Bottom 37%of 30,4042024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate50.3%Bottom 9%of 32,9102024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±1451,039Bottom 46%of 33,7722024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$179$1,642Top 18%of 26,6182024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$38,002$210,400Bottom 47%of 30,9412024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income25.3%Top 14%of 26,4702024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate6.8%Bottom 32%of 33,0282024 ACS 5-Year

Both affordability measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with, so the comparison is like for like. They describe housing cost against local earnings and are not a cost-of-living index — transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not included, and a place can look affordable here and still be expensive to live in for reasons this does not capture.

Growth & development

How it’s calculated →
Development Momentum
47/ 100
Ranks 2987 of 5,428 published city profiles

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

91% of recently permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes, so new supply is concentrated in apartments and condominiums rather than detached houses.

At 4.1 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US ZIP areas.

Units permitted
81
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
4.1
Top 38% nationally
Year over year
+21%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
91.4%
units in 5+ unit buildings

The Building Permits Survey is not published for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Plattsburgh, NY, the city containing this ZIP code.

Weather & climate

5 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 81°F and January a low of 10°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 30.9 inches.

0°20°40°60°80°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station PLATTSBURGH INTL AP, 0.5 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND4.1"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation30.9"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low10°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high81°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months51991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing51°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today.

Physical risk

54 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, earthquake and cold wave.

Ice stormModerate
EarthquakeHigh
Inland floodingElevated
LightningModerate
Heat waveModerate
Cold waveModerate

Low or minimal exposure: winter weather, landslide, hurricane, strong wind, avalanche, tornado, wildfire, hail.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. ZIP values are the land-area-weighted mean of the counties the ZIP Code Tabulation Area intersects. Expected annual loss is not allocated below county level. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offences. AreaProfile does not publish reported crime, and this is not a substitute for it — it says nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Clinton County records 1.6 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, lower than most counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 8.2 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, because nationally most firearm deaths are suicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 11.2 per 100,000 residents in Clinton County.

Homicide
1.6
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Firearm deaths, all intents
8.2
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Drug overdose
11.2
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Suicide
12.8
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides. The two columns overlap and should not be added.

Age-adjusted rates from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC for Clinton County as a whole — these rates are not published below county level. A county can hold both a dense city centre and a suburb whose experience of it is nothing alike, so this describes the county around 12903 rather than 12903 itself. That is why AreaProfile shows these figures and does not put them in the Area Score. Where fewer than ten deaths were recorded the count is suppressed at source, and a rate built on single figures moves sharply between releases. What this measure has that reported crime does not: a death certificate is filed whether or not the local police agency submitted a return that year, so the figures stay comparable between places and over time.

What this profile does not cover

Three things people look for are missing from every AreaProfile page, and each is missing for a reason rather than by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Reported crime
Offences reported to police are published by department rather than by town, and only where a department reported every month of the year. No municipal department reports for this place — many smaller communities are policed by the county — so there is no figure to show. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
Taxes and full cost of living
No public source publishes either with national coverage and a method open enough to check. Housing affordability above is computed from published rent, price and income, and excludes transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes — commuting cost in particular tends to offset suburban housing savings. Nothing here is individualised tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house. School attendance zones, insurance pricing and the character of a neighbourhood all vary within the places measured here.

Access

1 major airport lies within 100 miles, the nearest 0 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Plattsburgh IntlPBG0 mi11,759 ft
Albany IntlALB133 mi8,500 ft
Griffiss IntlRME138 mi11,820 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

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Area Score
58
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource periodUpdated
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle28-day NASR cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 NormalsEvery ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period)
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
June 2026Monthly
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month
Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-YearAnnual (5-year estimates released each December)
safetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
April, 2025 to March, 2026Quarterly, with a rolling twelve-month window alongside complete calendar years

Profile recalculated August 30, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology or browse every source.

12903 vs Plattsburgh

How this ZIP area compares with Plattsburgh as a whole. Both figures come from the same ACS release, so the comparison is like for like.

12903
Plattsburgh
Median household income
$77,733
vs
$57,630
Per capita income
$56,487
vs
$35,584
Population density
430/sq mi
vs
3,693/sq mi
Median home value
$210,400
vs
$195,900
Median gross rent
$1,642
vs
$1,030
Homeownership rate
50.3%
vs
37.9%
Bachelor's degree or higher
52.6%
vs
40.4%
Poverty rate
7.3%
vs
22.7%
Median age
50.3
vs
31.9

Some demographic statistics use Census ZIP Code Tabulation Areas, which approximate but do not exactly match USPS ZIP delivery geography. See the methodology for how AreaProfile maps between them.