ZIP 81069 vs ZIP 81019

This side-by-side compares ZIP 81069 (Rye, CO) and ZIP 81019 (Colorado City, CO) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 81069 has a population of 1,888 at 3 people per square mile, while ZIP 81019 has 1,690 at 66 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 81069 reports a median household income of $97,513 against $38,056 in ZIP 81019, with per-capita income of $47,487 vs $36,839. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 32.6% in 81069 and 13.7% in 81019. Poverty rate reads 17.3% vs 6.2%, and unemployment 1.2% vs 0.0% — 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 $364,700 in 81069 versus $223,400 in 81019, with median rent of $2,586 and $1,270 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 87.9% 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.