ZIP 81147 vs ZIP 81121

This side-by-side compares ZIP 81147 (Pagosa Springs, CO) and ZIP 81121 (Arboles, CO) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both, no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 81147 has a population of 11,446 at 3 people per square mile, while ZIP 81121 has 270 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 81147 reports a median household income of $84,270 against $42,813 in ZIP 81121, with per-capita income of $46,051 vs $31,042. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 42.4% in 81147 and 16.5% in 81121. Poverty rate reads 6.7% vs 6.4%, and unemployment 1.3% vs 4.3% - 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 $486,000 in 81147 versus $332,000 in 81121, with median rent of $1,448 and - per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 80.1% vs 88.9%. 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.