ZIP 80603 vs ZIP 80601

This side-by-side compares ZIP 80603 (Brighton, CO) and ZIP 80601 (Brighton, CO) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 80603 has a population of 11,973 at 58 people per square mile, while ZIP 80601 has 33,833 at 488 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 80603 reports a median household income of $118,297 against $105,417 in ZIP 80601, with per-capita income of $44,860 vs $41,269. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 23.5% in 80603 and 23.6% in 80601. Poverty rate reads 7.5% vs 9.1%, and unemployment 2.2% vs 4.9% — 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 $492,000 in 80603 versus $497,700 in 80601, with median rent of $2,578 and $1,774 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 91.1% vs 71.6%. 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.