ZIP 80033 vs ZIP 80002

This side-by-side compares ZIP 80033 (Wheat Ridge, CO) and ZIP 80002 (Arvada, CO) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 80033 has a population of 23,969 at 1,117 people per square mile, while ZIP 80002 has 18,020 at 1,130 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 80033 reports a median household income of $89,627 against $93,362 in ZIP 80002, with per-capita income of $59,418 vs $54,404. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 46.9% in 80033 and 47.7% in 80002. Poverty rate reads 12.1% vs 8.0%, and unemployment 6.1% vs 3.4% — 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 $609,800 in 80033 versus $558,500 in 80002, with median rent of $1,587 and $1,824 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 51.6% vs 49.6%. 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.