Port Henry, NY
Essex County · New York · United States
Home to 1,545 people across 6.804 square miles.
At a glance
12974 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.
Location
Where 12974 is
| Coordinates | 44.060043, -73.464841 |
|---|---|
| Time zone | America/New_York |
| County | Essex County |
| State | New York (NY) |
| Land area | 6.804 mi² |
| Coordinate source | Census 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, MA | 168.7 mi |
|---|---|
| New York, NY | 232.9 mi |
| Philadelphia, PA | 296.9 mi |
| Chicago, IL | 730.9 mi |
People
Who lives in 12974
1,545 residents in 837 households, averaging 1.85 people per household. The largest age group is 55-64 at 37.4% of residents, and 41.2% of households are a single person living alone.
Age distribution
Share of residents by age band
Households
Composition and size
| Total households | 837 |
|---|---|
| Average household size | 1.85 |
| Family households | 50.9% |
| Living alone | 41.2% |
| Median age | 62.3 years |
| Households with internet | 97.0% |
Race & ethnicity
Census race categories. Hispanic or Latino origin is asked separately and overlaps these groups.
Income & work
What people earn in 12974
The median household here earns $43,832 a year, below the US median of $70,109, which puts 12974 ahead of 9% of American ZIP codes. 28.3% of residents live below the poverty line.
Compared to the US
This ZIP against the national median
| Median household income | $43,832 ±$15,681 |
|---|---|
| Per capita income | $32,311 |
| Poverty rate | 28.3% |
| Unemployment rate | 9.7% |
| Labor force participation | 36.9% |
Household income distribution
Share of households in each bracket
Educational attainment among residents 25 and older: 20.3% hold a bachelor's degree or higher, 91.9% finished high school.
Housing
Homes and rent in 12974
A typical home is valued at $154,900. This is an owner-majority area — 70.0% of occupied homes are owned, and the typical building went up in 1948.
Costs
Typical values
| Median home value | $154,900 |
|---|---|
| Median gross rent | —/mo |
| Median year built | 1948 |
| Housing units | 914 |
| Vacancy rate | 8.4% |
Own vs. rent
Of 837 occupied units
| Owner households | 586 |
|---|---|
| Renter households | 251 |
Building types
Units by structure size
Getting to work
How 12974 commutes
79.4% of workers drove alone, and the average one-way trip takes 34.7 minutes.
Mode of transport
Workers 16 and older
Travel time
Mean commute 34.7 minutes
Overview
Understanding ZIP code 12974
ZIP code 12974 is assigned to Port Henry, 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 1,545 people live inside it.
At 227 residents per square mile spread over 6.804 square miles, 12974 reads as a small-town 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.
Household earnings are well below the national median. At $43,832, 12974 ranks among the lower-income postal codes, ahead of 9% 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 Port Henry looks like
Housing in 12974 costs below the national median. A typical home is valued at $154,900 against a US median of $207,500. Ownership dominates: 70.0% 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 70.8% of housing units here. The median construction year is 1948, making the housing here mid-century.
The population skews considerably older than the national median, with a median age of 62.3 against 42 nationally. Households average just 1.85 people, and 41.2% consist of one person living alone — a signature of areas with a lot of studio and one-bedroom stock.
Getting to work takes 34.7 minutes on average one way. The dominant mode is drove alone at 79.4% of workers, while 10.3% work from home. Commute patterns are one of the better proxies for how a place actually functions day to day.
Where to stay
Where to stay in Port Henry, NY
Port Henry is a smaller community, so options inside 12974 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.
For reference, Boston, MA is about 168.7 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.
Opens Booking.com in a new tab. We are not affiliated with Booking.com and receive nothing from this link.
Practical uses
What ZIP code 12974 is used for
Beyond addressing mail, 12974 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, 12974 offers a compact profile of Port Henry: 1,545 residents, a median household income of $43,832, 20.3% of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher, and an unemployment rate of 9.7%. 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. 12974 may cover parts of several distinct areas, and a single neighbourhood in Port Henry 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.
Nearby
ZIP codes near 12974
The eight closest postal codes by centroid distance, each with its own full profile. You can also browse every New York ZIP code or use the ZIP Express Lookup to search by city, county or time zone.
More in Essex County
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Questions
Common questions about 12974
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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 12974. 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).