ZIP 80538 vs ZIP 80526

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