ZIP 80104 vs ZIP 80116

This side-by-side compares ZIP 80104 (Castle Rock, CO) and ZIP 80116 (Franktown, CO) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 80104 has a population of 27,588 at 137 people per square mile, while ZIP 80116 has 3,942 at 18 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 80104 reports a median household income of $134,335 against $146,000 in ZIP 80116, with per-capita income of $59,720 vs $75,026. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 55.8% in 80104 and 60.8% in 80116. Poverty rate reads 4.2% vs 2.9%, and unemployment 3.8% vs 1.6% — 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 $624,200 in 80104 versus $960,400 in 80116, with median rent of $1,880 and $1,435 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 79.4% vs 96.7%. 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.