ZIP 80461 vs ZIP 81251

This side-by-side compares ZIP 80461 (Leadville, CO) and ZIP 81251 (Twin Lakes, CO) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both, no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 80461 has a population of 7,090 at 10 people per square mile, while ZIP 81251 has 220 at 1 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 80461 reports a median household income of $95,775 against $105,600 in ZIP 81251, with per-capita income of $50,200 vs $54,835. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 48.1% in 80461 and 66.8% in 81251. Poverty rate reads 8.4% vs 0.7%, and unemployment 2.3% vs 0.0% - 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 $458,400 in 80461 versus $672,600 in 81251, with median rent of $1,397 and - per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 73.8% vs 100.0%. 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.