ZIP 80526 vs ZIP 80538

This side-by-side compares ZIP 80526 (Fort Collins, CO) and ZIP 80538 (Loveland, CO) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 80526 has a population of 44,183 at 447 people per square mile, while ZIP 80538 has 43,930 at 157 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 80526 reports a median household income of $88,686 against $86,671 in ZIP 80538, with per-capita income of $46,463 vs $49,050. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 57.7% in 80526 and 41.4% in 80538. Poverty rate reads 12.9% vs 8.8%, and unemployment 4.3% vs 4.6% — 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 $551,800 in 80526 versus $497,700 in 80538, with median rent of $1,667 and $1,760 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 57.0% vs 69.4%. 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.