ZIP 80534 vs ZIP 80543

This side-by-side compares ZIP 80534 (Johnstown, CO) and ZIP 80543 (Milliken, CO) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 80534 has a population of 11,301 at 90 people per square mile, while ZIP 80543 has 5,887 at 72 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 80534 reports a median household income of $129,024 against $104,574 in ZIP 80543, with per-capita income of $51,453 vs $37,042. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 37.6% in 80534 and 26.9% in 80543. Poverty rate reads 3.4% vs 2.2%, and unemployment 4.3% vs 0.5% — 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 $553,300 in 80534 versus $415,700 in 80543, with median rent of $1,846 and $2,102 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 78.6% vs 92.5%. 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.