ZIP 80549 vs ZIP 80535

This side-by-side compares ZIP 80549 (Wellington, CO) and ZIP 80535 (Laporte, CO) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 80549 has a population of 8,642 at 16 people per square mile, while ZIP 80535 has 2,636 at 23 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 80549 reports a median household income of $107,614 against $110,945 in ZIP 80535, with per-capita income of $44,653 vs $59,273. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 45.5% in 80549 and 45.8% in 80535. Poverty rate reads 9.0% vs 6.8%, and unemployment 5.4% vs 1.9% — 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 $475,900 in 80549 versus $483,300 in 80535, with median rent of $2,444 and $1,349 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 83.3% vs 82.4%. 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.