ZIP 80401 vs ZIP 80403

This side-by-side compares ZIP 80401 (Golden, CO) and ZIP 80403 (Golden, CO) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 80401 has a population of 39,378 at 291 people per square mile, while ZIP 80403 has 18,211 at 53 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 80401 reports a median household income of $118,039 against $151,276 in ZIP 80403, with per-capita income of $65,009 vs $81,571. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 58.2% in 80401 and 67.7% in 80403. Poverty rate reads 9.0% vs 5.4%, and unemployment 4.3% vs 3.5% — 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 $804,500 in 80401 versus $838,000 in 80403, with median rent of $1,939 and $2,444 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 64.8% vs 86.9%. 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.