ZIP 80498 vs ZIP 81657

This side-by-side compares ZIP 80498 (Silverthorne, CO) and ZIP 81657 (Vail, CO) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 80498 has a population of 7,002 at 10 people per square mile, while ZIP 81657 has 5,581 at 19 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 80498 reports a median household income of $105,897 against $100,573 in ZIP 81657, with per-capita income of $63,549 vs $105,358. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 49.7% in 80498 and 69.4% in 81657. Poverty rate reads 8.6% vs 6.3%, and unemployment 6.4% vs 7.0% — 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 $824,200 in 80498 versus $1,501,800 in 81657, with median rent of $1,826 and $1,644 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 73.8% vs 61.4%. 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.