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ZIP Code12487

Ulster Park, NY

Ulster County · New York · United States
Home to 3,829 people across 16.334 square miles.

EasternOwner-majority57 ZIPs in county

At a glance

12487 by the numbers

Every figure below comes from the 2019–2023 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, the Census Gazetteer, or is computed from those. Margins of error are shown where they matter.

Population
3,829
±617 · 56th pctile nationally
Median household income
$92,847
US median $70,109 · top 25%
Median home value
$273,100
US median $207,500 · 66th pctile
Median age
48.9
US median 42 years
Population density
234/mi²
65th pctile most dense
Land area
16.334 mi²
plus 0.285 mi² water

Location

Where 12487 is

41.869399, -73.998805 · Census ZCTA internal pointOpen larger map →
Coordinates41.869399, -73.998805
Time zoneAmerica/New_York
CountyUlster County
StateNew York (NY)
Land area16.334 mi²
Coordinate sourceCensus ZCTA internal point

Local time

America/New_York

—:—:—

Current weather

Live from the National Weather Service

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Distance to major cities

Straight-line, computed from coordinates

New York, NY79.9 mi
Philadelphia, PA145.8 mi
Boston, MA154.4 mi
Chicago, IL700.6 mi

People

Who lives in 12487

3,829 residents in 1,500 households, averaging 2.55 people per household. The largest age group is 65+ at 20.6% of residents.

Age distribution

Share of residents by age band

Under 1816.1%
18-243.2%
25-3415.6%
35-4411.1%
45-5413.1%
55-6420.3%
65+20.6%

Households

Composition and size

Total households1,500
Average household size2.55
Family households54.1%
Living alone28.9%
Median age48.9 years
Households with internet94.0%

Race & ethnicity

Census race categories. Hispanic or Latino origin is asked separately and overlaps these groups.

White74.8%
Black12.9%
Asian0.2%
Two or more12.0%
Hispanic / Latino1.8%

Income & work

What people earn in 12487

The median household here earns $92,847 a year, above the US median of $70,109, which puts 12487 ahead of 78% of American ZIP codes. 12.4% of residents live below the poverty line.

Compared to the US

This ZIP against the national median

Median household income$92,847
LowestHighest
Higher than 78% of all US ZIP codes.
Median household income$92,847 ±$27,411
Per capita income$43,385
Poverty rate12.4%
Unemployment rate2.0%
Labor force participation63.2%

Household income distribution

Share of households in each bracket

<$25k13.2%
$25-50k15.5%
$50-75k6.9%
$75-100k17.6%
$100-150k17.3%
$150-200k14.2%
$200k+15.3%

Educational attainment among residents 25 and older: 34.5% hold a bachelor's degree or higher, 95.2% finished high school.

Housing

Homes and rent in 12487

A typical home is valued at $273,100, and median rent runs $1,606 a month. This is an owner-majority area — 77.3% of occupied homes are owned, and the typical building went up in 1961.

Costs

Typical values

Median home value$273,100
Median gross rent$1,606/mo
Median year built1961
Housing units1,693
Vacancy rate11.4%

Own vs. rent

Of 1,500 occupied units

Owner-occupied77.3%
Renter-occupied22.7%
Owner households1,160
Renter households340

Building types

Units by structure size

Single family75.6%
2-4 units9.0%
5-19 units6.7%
20+ units8.6%

Getting to work

How 12487 commutes

80.4% of workers drove alone, and the average one-way trip takes 31.4 minutes.

Mode of transport

Workers 16 and older

Drove alone80.4%
Carpooled1.7%
Public transit2.7%
Walked4.1%
Worked from home5.1%

Travel time

Mean commute 31.4 minutes

<10 min2.7%
10-1922.4%
20-2931.8%
30-4426.8%
45-597.5%
60+8.8%

Overview

Understanding ZIP code 12487

ZIP code 12487 is assigned to Ulster Park, NY, and falls within Ulster County. Like every US postal code, it began as a mail-routing device rather than a geographic boundary — the US Postal Service groups delivery routes under a single code so carriers and sorting equipment can process mail efficiently. Today it also serves as a practical shorthand for the area itself: roughly 3,829 people live inside it.

At 234 residents per square mile spread over 16.334 square miles, 12487 reads as a small-town area. It is a smaller postal code by population, and density shapes almost everything else on this page — how people get to work, whether they own or rent, and what housing costs.

Household earnings run above the national median. At $92,847, 12487 sits comfortably in the upper half, ahead of 78% of them. The US median for comparison is $70,109. Bear in mind that median income describes the midpoint household, not the average — it is not pulled upward by a handful of very high earners the way a mean would be.

Living here

What life in Ulster Park looks like

Housing in 12487 costs close to the national median. A typical home is valued at $273,100 against a US median of $207,500, and median gross rent runs $1,606 a month. Ownership dominates: 77.3% of occupied homes are owner-occupied, which usually signals an established residential area with relatively low turnover.

The building stock is dominated by detached single-family houses, which account for 75.6% of housing units here. The median construction year is 1961, making the housing here mid-century.

The population skews older than the national median, with a median age of 48.9 against 42 nationally. The average household holds 2.55 people, and 54.1% are family households.

Getting to work takes 31.4 minutes on average one way. The dominant mode is drove alone at 80.4% of workers.

Where to stay

Where to stay in Ulster Park, NY

Ulster Park is a smaller community, so options inside 12487 may be limited to a handful of independent inns, motels or bed-and-breakfast properties. Travellers often widen the search to the surrounding area, where the choice is greater and prices are usually competitive.

Median rent in 12487 is $1,606 a month, which sits in the middle of the national range; accommodation pricing locally tends to be similarly mid-market. For reference, New York, NY is about 79.9 miles away in a straight line, which is worth factoring in if you are comparing a stay here against one closer to the city centre.

Availability and pricing change constantly, so the live search below will give you a more accurate picture than any figure we could publish here. It opens results for this area on Booking.com.

Book a Hotel →

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Practical uses

What ZIP code 12487 is used for

Beyond addressing mail, 12487 does a lot of quiet administrative work. Retailers use it to calculate shipping and sales tax at checkout. Insurers use it to set premiums, since risk profiles vary geographically. Employers and marketers use it to define service areas. Government agencies use it to route benefits and organise reporting. If you have ever been asked for a postal code by a form that clearly does not intend to send you anything, this is why.

For anyone weighing a move, 12487 offers a compact profile of Ulster Park: 3,829 residents, a median household income of $92,847, 34.5% of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher, and an unemployment rate of 2.0%. A handful of figures like these answer more relocation questions than most neighbourhood guides do.

One caution worth repeating: a postal code is not a neighbourhood. 12487 may cover parts of several distinct areas, and a single neighbourhood in Ulster Park may be split across more than one code. Boundaries also shift as USPS adjusts delivery routes. Treat the figures here as describing a delivery area, which is what they actually measure.

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Questions

Common questions about 12487

What city is ZIP code 12487 in?
12487 serves Ulster Park, New York, in Ulster County, United States.
What is the population of 12487?
About 3,829 people live in ZIP code 12487, according to the US Census Bureau's 2019–2023 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. The margin of error on that figure is ±617. That works out to roughly 234 people per square mile.
What is the average income in 12487?
The median household income in 12487 is $92,847 per year, compared with a US median of $70,109. Per capita income is $43,385. Median income is more representative than an average because it isn't skewed by a small number of very high earners.
How expensive is housing in 12487?
The median home value is $273,100 and median gross rent is $1,606 a month. 77.3% of occupied homes are owner-occupied.
Is 12487 a good place to live?
That depends on what you're looking for, but here are the facts: 34.5% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, the unemployment rate is 2.0%, and the median age is 48.9. The average commute is 31.4 minutes. We publish the numbers and let you weigh them.
What time zone is 12487 in?
12487 observes Eastern Time (America/New_York). This zone observes daylight saving time.
How big is ZIP code 12487?
ZIP code 12487 covers 16.334 square miles of land plus 0.285 square miles of water, per the US Census Bureau's 2023 Gazetteer files.
Is 12487 urban, suburban or rural?
By population density, 12487 reads as a small-town area. It holds 234 people per square mile across 16.334 square miles of land. For reference, densities above 10,000 per square mile generally indicate an urban core, 1,000–3,000 is typically suburban, and under 200 is rural. These are rules of thumb rather than official designations — the Census Bureau classifies urban and rural areas by census block, not by ZIP code.
How much is rent in 12487?
Median gross rent in 12487 is $1,606 a month, according to the American Community Survey. Gross rent includes contract rent plus the estimated cost of utilities and fuels, so it is closer to what a tenant actually pays than a headline rent figure. Of 1,500 occupied homes here, 340 are rented.
What is the commute like from 12487?
The average one-way commute from 12487 takes about 31.4 minutes. The most common way to travel is drove alone, used by 80.4% of workers aged 16 and over. Commute figures cover people who were employed and working outside the home during the survey period.
How many people work in 12487?
About 2,098 residents of 12487 are employed. Labor force participation stands at 63.2% and the unemployment rate is 2.0%. Note this counts residents by where they live, not by where they work — a ZIP with many offices can have far more jobs than employed residents.
Where should I stay when visiting 12487?
Accommodation in and around Ulster Park, NY ranges with the character of the area. See the 'Where to stay' section on this page for local context, and use the live search there for current availability and pricing.
Does 12487 cover more than one city or county?
This page lists Ulster Park as the primary place and Ulster County as the county. ZIP codes follow mail delivery routes rather than municipal or county lines, so a single code can straddle boundaries, and USPS also recognises alternate acceptable city names for many codes. If you need the definitive answer for a specific street address, the USPS ZIP Code Lookup is the authority.
Can ZIP code 12487 change?
Yes. USPS adjusts ZIP codes as delivery volumes shift — codes are occasionally split, merged, retired or newly created, and boundaries move more often than most people assume. The Census Bureau's ZCTA definitions, which underpin the demographic figures on this page, are redrawn only once a decade, so the two can drift apart between censuses.

Methodology

Where this data comes from

  • Postal geography — GeoNames open postal code database (CC BY 4.0), cross-checked against the US Census Gazetteer.
  • Demographics, income, housing, commute — US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2019–2023 5-Year Estimates, ZIP Code Tabulation Area 12487. Tables B01001, B01002, B01003, B02001, B03003, B08301, B08303, B11001, B15003, B17001, B19001, B19013, B19301, B23025, B25002, B25003, B25024, B25035, B25064, B25077, B28002.
  • Land and water area — US Census Bureau 2023 Gazetteer Files.
  • Weather — NOAA National Weather Service, fetched live in your browser.
  • Map — OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
On accuracy. ACS figures are survey estimates, not counts. The margin of error shown alongside the population figure means the true value has a 90% chance of falling in that range. For small ZIP codes the error can be large relative to the estimate — treat the direction as more reliable than the exact number. This page reports data for ZCTA 12487, the Census approximation of the USPS delivery area.