ZIP 33455 vs ZIP 34997

This side-by-side compares ZIP 33455 (Hobe Sound, FL) and ZIP 34997 (Stuart, FL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 33455 has a population of 19,980 at 157 people per square mile, while ZIP 34997 has 40,405 at 159 per square mile. That difference in population size and density alone reshapes how every other metric should be interpreted — a higher-income ZIP with 1,200 residents behaves very differently from one with 45,000.

On income and education, ZIP 33455 reports a median household income of $70,389 against $78,136 in ZIP 34997, with per-capita income of $54,452 vs $45,603. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 36.5% in 33455 and 31.6% in 34997. Poverty rate reads 14.1% vs 10.2%, and unemployment 6.2% vs 4.0% — these four fields alone drive most of the difference in the scorecard grades you will see for each ZIP.

Housing separates these two ZIPs further: median home value sits at $450,600 in 33455 versus $378,900 in 34997, with median rent of $1,147 and $1,600 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 84.0% vs 80.9%. When reading the comparison table below, focus on paired metrics rather than single winners — a ZIP with lower home values and lower income is not strictly "worse" if rent-to-income ratios and commute times land in the same zone. Every value is pulled from the exact same ACS table so the two columns are genuinely comparable.