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ZIP Code14048

Dunkirk, NY

Chautauqua County · New York · United States
Home to 14,949 people across 22.97 square miles.

Eastern38 ZIPs in county

At a glance

14048 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
15k
±333 · top 25% nationally
Median household income
$52,971
US median $70,109 · bottom 25%
Median home value
$98,400
US median $207,500 · bottom 25%
Median age
46
US median 42 years
Population density
651/mi²
74th pctile most dense
Land area
22.97 mi²
plus 7.258 mi² water

Location

Where 14048 is

42.486763, -79.313622 · Census ZCTA internal pointOpen larger map →
Coordinates42.486763, -79.313622
Time zoneAmerica/New_York
CountyChautauqua County
StateNew York (NY)
Land area22.97 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

Philadelphia, PA277.7 mi
New York, NY300.3 mi
Boston, MA420.9 mi
Chicago, IL427.7 mi

People

Who lives in 14048

14,949 residents in 6,775 households, averaging 2.21 people per household. The largest age group is 65+ at 20.4% of residents.

Age distribution

Share of residents by age band

Under 1817.3%
18-248.0%
25-3412.8%
35-4410.9%
45-5413.8%
55-6416.8%
65+20.4%

Households

Composition and size

Total households6,775
Average household size2.21
Family households57.5%
Living alone37.0%
Median age46 years
Households with internet87.2%

Race & ethnicity

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

White67.2%
Black6.8%
Asian0.1%
Native American0.5%
Pacific Islander0.1%
Other13.1%
Two or more12.1%
Hispanic / Latino29.7%

Income & work

What people earn in 14048

The median household here earns $52,971 a year, below the US median of $70,109, which puts 14048 ahead of 20% of American ZIP codes. 22.2% of residents live below the poverty line.

Compared to the US

This ZIP against the national median

Median household income$52,971
LowestHighest
Higher than 20% of all US ZIP codes.
Median household income$52,971 ±$5,001
Per capita income$30,322
Poverty rate22.2%
Unemployment rate4.1%
Labor force participation53.8%

Household income distribution

Share of households in each bracket

<$25k25.2%
$25-50k22.6%
$50-75k18.5%
$75-100k14.8%
$100-150k10.5%
$150-200k5.2%
$200k+3.3%

Educational attainment among residents 25 and older: 18.0% hold a bachelor's degree or higher, 87.3% finished high school.

Housing

Homes and rent in 14048

A typical home is valued at $98,400, and median rent runs $905 a month. This is an owner-majority area — 62.8% of occupied homes are owned, and the typical building went up in 1946.

Costs

Typical values

Median home value$98,400
Median gross rent$905/mo
Median year built1946
Housing units7,506
Vacancy rate9.7%

Own vs. rent

Of 6,775 occupied units

Owner-occupied62.8%
Renter-occupied37.2%
Owner households4,256
Renter households2,519

Building types

Units by structure size

Single family72.9%
2-4 units18.3%
5-19 units5.6%
20+ units3.2%

Getting to work

How 14048 commutes

80.7% of workers drove alone, and the average one-way trip takes 18.0 minutes.

Mode of transport

Workers 16 and older

Drove alone80.7%
Carpooled9.4%
Public transit0.0%
Walked1.6%
Bike1.3%
Worked from home5.5%

Travel time

Mean commute 18.0 minutes

<10 min39.1%
10-1937.2%
20-296.8%
30-447.1%
45-594.5%
60+5.4%

Overview

Understanding ZIP code 14048

ZIP code 14048 is assigned to Dunkirk, NY, and falls within Chautauqua 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 14,949 people live inside it.

At 651 residents per square mile spread over 22.97 square miles, 14048 reads as a small-town area. It is a mid-sized 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 below the national median. At $52,971, 14048 sits in the lower half, ahead of 20% 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 Dunkirk looks like

Housing in 14048 costs well below the national median. A typical home is valued at $98,400 against a US median of $207,500, and median gross rent runs $905 a month. The split between owning and renting is fairly even at 62.8% owner-occupied, which tends to indicate a mix of housing types rather than one dominant form.

The building stock is dominated by detached single-family houses, which account for 72.9% of housing units here. The median construction year is 1946, making the housing here mid-century.

The population skews older than the national median, with a median age of 46 against 42 nationally. The average household holds 2.21 people, and 57.5% are family households.

Getting to work takes 18.0 minutes on average one way. The dominant mode is drove alone at 80.7% of workers.

Where to stay

Where to stay in Dunkirk, NY

Dunkirk is a smaller community, so options inside 14048 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 14048 is $905 a month, which sits in the middle of the national range; accommodation pricing locally tends to be similarly mid-market. For reference, Philadelphia, PA is about 277.7 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.

Book a Hotel →

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Practical uses

What ZIP code 14048 is used for

Beyond addressing mail, 14048 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, 14048 offers a compact profile of Dunkirk: 14,949 residents, a median household income of $52,971, 18.0% of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher, and an unemployment rate of 4.1%. 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. 14048 may cover parts of several distinct areas, and a single neighbourhood in Dunkirk 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 14048

What city is ZIP code 14048 in?
14048 serves Dunkirk, New York, in Chautauqua County, United States.
What is the population of 14048?
About 14,949 people live in ZIP code 14048, according to the US Census Bureau's 2019–2023 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. The margin of error on that figure is ±333. That works out to roughly 651 people per square mile.
What is the average income in 14048?
The median household income in 14048 is $52,971 per year, compared with a US median of $70,109. Per capita income is $30,322. 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 14048?
The median home value is $98,400 and median gross rent is $905 a month. 62.8% of occupied homes are owner-occupied.
Is 14048 a good place to live?
That depends on what you're looking for, but here are the facts: 18.0% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, the unemployment rate is 4.1%, and the median age is 46. The average commute is 18.0 minutes. We publish the numbers and let you weigh them.
What time zone is 14048 in?
14048 observes Eastern Time (America/New_York). This zone observes daylight saving time.
How big is ZIP code 14048?
ZIP code 14048 covers 22.97 square miles of land plus 7.258 square miles of water, per the US Census Bureau's 2023 Gazetteer files.
Is 14048 urban, suburban or rural?
By population density, 14048 reads as a small-town area. It holds 651 people per square mile across 22.97 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 14048?
Median gross rent in 14048 is $905 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 6,775 occupied homes here, 2,519 are rented.
What is the commute like from 14048?
The average one-way commute from 14048 takes about 18.0 minutes. The most common way to travel is drove alone, used by 80.7% 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 14048?
About 6,513 residents of 14048 are employed. Labor force participation stands at 53.8% and the unemployment rate is 4.1%. 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 14048?
Accommodation in and around Dunkirk, 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 14048 cover more than one city or county?
This page lists Dunkirk as the primary place and Chautauqua 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 14048 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 14048. 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 14048, the Census approximation of the USPS delivery area.