ZIP 81125 vs ZIP 81131

This side-by-side compares ZIP 81125 (Center, CO) and ZIP 81131 (Crestone, CO) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both, no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 81125 has a population of 3,447 at 5 people per square mile, while ZIP 81131 has 1,189 at 2 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 81125 reports a median household income of $56,250 against $45,156 in ZIP 81131, with per-capita income of $31,079 vs $94,240. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 27.4% in 81125 and 47.5% in 81131. Poverty rate reads 16.3% vs 27.0%, and unemployment 12.9% vs 0.9% - 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 $148,700 in 81125 versus $333,500 in 81131, with median rent of $652 and $1,643 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 71.1% vs 76.3%. 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.