ZIP 80218 vs ZIP 80203

This side-by-side compares ZIP 80218 (Denver, CO) and ZIP 80203 (Denver, CO) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 80218 has a population of 17,928 at 4,334 people per square mile, while ZIP 80203 has 18,839 at 6,779 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 80218 reports a median household income of $81,706 against $77,500 in ZIP 80203, with per-capita income of $89,147 vs $70,801. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 70.9% in 80218 and 69.9% in 80203. Poverty rate reads 9.6% vs 10.9%, and unemployment 5.2% vs 4.0% — 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 $676,700 in 80218 versus $470,800 in 80203, with median rent of $1,534 and $1,641 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 33.0% vs 21.8%. 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.