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ZIP Code12961

Moriah Center, NY

Essex County · New York · United States
Home to 92 people across 15.113 square miles.

EasternTop 10% degree-holdersOwner-majority31 ZIPs in county

At a glance

12961 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
92
±98 · bottom 10% nationally
Median household income
US median $70,109 ·
Median home value
US median $207,500 ·
Median age
62.4
US median 42 years
Population density
6/mi²
bottom 25% most dense
Land area
15.113 mi²
plus 0.21 mi² water

Location

Where 12961 is

44.061246, -73.587569 · Census ZCTA internal pointOpen larger map →
Coordinates44.061246, -73.587569
Time zoneAmerica/New_York
CountyEssex County
StateNew York (NY)
Land area15.113 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

Boston, MA173.3 mi
New York, NY232.3 mi
Philadelphia, PA295.2 mi
Chicago, IL724.8 mi

People

Who lives in 12961

92 residents in 78 households, averaging 1.18 people per household. The largest age group is 55-64 at 100.0% of residents, and 83.3% of households are a single person living alone.

Age distribution

Share of residents by age band

Under 180.0%
18-240.0%
25-340.0%
35-440.0%
45-540.0%
55-64100.0%
65+0.0%

Households

Composition and size

Total households78
Average household size1.18
Family households16.7%
Living alone83.3%
Median age62.4 years
Households with internet83.3%

Race & ethnicity

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

White29.3%
Other70.7%

Income & work

What people earn in 12961

Income data is suppressed for this ZIP code.

Compared to the US

This ZIP against the national median

Median household income
Median household income±—
Per capita income$21,763
Poverty rate0.0%
Unemployment rate0.0%
Labor force participation14.1%

Household income distribution

Share of households in each bracket

<$25k83.3%
$25-50k0.0%
$50-75k16.7%
$75-100k0.0%
$100-150k0.0%
$150-200k0.0%
$200k+0.0%

Educational attainment among residents 25 and older: 70.7% hold a bachelor's degree or higher, 84.8% finished high school.

Housing

Homes and rent in 12961

Housing cost data is suppressed for this ZIP code.

Costs

Typical values

Median home value
Median gross rent—/mo
Median year built2004
Housing units119
Vacancy rate34.5%

Own vs. rent

Of 78 occupied units

Owner-occupied100.0%
Renter-occupied0.0%
Owner households78
Renter households0

Building types

Units by structure size

Single family65.5%
20+ units34.5%

Overview

Understanding ZIP code 12961

ZIP code 12961 is assigned to Moriah Center, NY, and falls within Essex 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 92 people live inside it.

At 6 residents per square mile spread over 15.113 square miles, 12961 reads as a rural area. It is a sparsely populated postal code, and density shapes almost everything else on this page — how people get to work, whether they own or rent, and what housing costs.

Living here

What life in Moriah Center looks like

The building stock is dominated by detached single-family houses, which account for 65.5% of housing units here. The median construction year is 2004, making the housing here relatively modern. The vacancy rate of 34.5% is high, which in many places reflects seasonal or second-home use rather than abandonment.

The population skews considerably older than the national median, with a median age of 62.4 against 42 nationally. Households average just 1.18 people, and 83.3% consist of one person living alone — a signature of areas with a lot of studio and one-bedroom stock.

Where to stay

Where to stay in Moriah Center, NY

12961 covers a rural area, and accommodation within the postal code itself is likely to be sparse — perhaps a country inn, a lodge or a vacation rental rather than a conventional hotel. Widening the search radius is usually the practical approach, and it also opens up more availability at short notice.

For reference, Boston, MA is about 173.3 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 12961 is used for

Beyond addressing mail, 12961 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, 12961 offers a compact profile of Moriah Center: 92 residents, 70.7% of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher, and an unemployment rate of 0.0%. 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. 12961 may cover parts of several distinct areas, and a single neighbourhood in Moriah Center 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 12961

What city is ZIP code 12961 in?
12961 serves Moriah Center, New York, in Essex County, United States.
What is the population of 12961?
About 92 people live in ZIP code 12961, according to the US Census Bureau's 2019–2023 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. The margin of error on that figure is ±98. That works out to roughly 6 people per square mile.
Is 12961 a good place to live?
That depends on what you're looking for, but here are the facts: 70.7% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, the unemployment rate is 0.0%, and the median age is 62.4. The average commute is 37.0 minutes. We publish the numbers and let you weigh them.
What time zone is 12961 in?
12961 observes Eastern Time (America/New_York). This zone observes daylight saving time.
How big is ZIP code 12961?
ZIP code 12961 covers 15.113 square miles of land plus 0.21 square miles of water, per the US Census Bureau's 2023 Gazetteer files.
Is 12961 urban, suburban or rural?
By population density, 12961 reads as a rural area. It holds 6 people per square mile across 15.113 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 many people work in 12961?
About 13 residents of 12961 are employed. Labor force participation stands at 14.1% and the unemployment rate is 0.0%. 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 12961?
Accommodation in and around Moriah Center, 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 12961 cover more than one city or county?
This page lists Moriah Center as the primary place and Essex 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 12961 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 12961. 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 12961, the Census approximation of the USPS delivery area.