ZIP 81136 vs ZIP 81146

This side-by-side compares ZIP 81136 (Hooper, CO) and ZIP 81146 (Mosca, CO) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both, no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 81136 has a population of 261 at 1 people per square mile, while ZIP 81146 has 531 at 1 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 81136 reports a median household income of $47,448 against $69,556 in ZIP 81146, with per-capita income of $27,246 vs $38,608. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 24.7% in 81136 and 37.5% in 81146. Poverty rate reads 13.1% vs 1.1%, and unemployment 17.3% vs 0.5% - 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 $193,300 in 81136 versus $232,100 in 81146, with median rent of $637 and $805 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 65.4% vs 81.7%. 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.