ZIP 80027 vs ZIP 80303

This side-by-side compares ZIP 80027 (Louisville, CO) and ZIP 80303 (Boulder, CO) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 80027 has a population of 31,034 at 616 people per square mile, while ZIP 80303 has 22,361 at 392 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 80027 reports a median household income of $154,232 against $78,555 in ZIP 80303, with per-capita income of $74,415 vs $62,355. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 73.4% in 80027 and 80.1% in 80303. Poverty rate reads 4.0% vs 23.1%, and unemployment 3.6% vs 4.8% — 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 $890,200 in 80027 versus $961,900 in 80303, with median rent of $2,334 and $1,910 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 67.5% vs 43.9%. 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.