ZIP 80427 vs ZIP 80422

This side-by-side compares ZIP 80427 (Central City, CO) and ZIP 80422 (Black Hawk, CO) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 80427 has a population of 822 at 22 people per square mile, while ZIP 80422 has 4,326 at 13 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 80427 reports a median household income of $62,264 against $95,625 in ZIP 80422, with per-capita income of $44,713 vs $62,589. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 24.3% in 80427 and 53.1% in 80422. Poverty rate reads 7.5% vs 10.9%, and unemployment 3.7% vs 1.8% — 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 $364,300 in 80427 versus $588,800 in 80422, with median rent of $1,482 and $1,719 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 61.2% vs 90.3%. 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.