ZIP 80209 vs ZIP 80218

This side-by-side compares ZIP 80209 (Denver, CO) and ZIP 80218 (Denver, CO) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 80209 has a population of 21,526 at 2,383 people per square mile, while ZIP 80218 has 17,928 at 4,334 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 80209 reports a median household income of $125,733 against $81,706 in ZIP 80218, with per-capita income of $108,343 vs $89,147. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 80.5% in 80209 and 70.9% in 80218. Poverty rate reads 5.5% vs 9.6%, and unemployment 3.2% vs 5.2% — 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 $1,018,300 in 80209 versus $676,700 in 80218, with median rent of $2,031 and $1,534 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 48.5% vs 33.0%. 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.