ZIP 34217 vs ZIP 34215

This side-by-side compares ZIP 34217 (Bradenton Beach, FL) and ZIP 34215 (Cortez, FL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 34217 has a population of 5,007 at 882 people per square mile, while ZIP 34215 has 768 at 673 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 34217 reports a median household income of $80,972 against $77,857 in ZIP 34215, with per-capita income of $84,053 vs $68,162. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 61.8% in 34217 and 42.0% in 34215. Poverty rate reads 6.9% vs 5.4%, and unemployment 4.8% vs 0.0% — 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 $657,400 in 34217 versus $708,300 in 34215, with median rent of $1,688 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 88.3% vs 96.9%. 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.