ZIP 81201 vs ZIP 81242

This side-by-side compares ZIP 81201 (Salida, CO) and ZIP 81242 (Poncha Springs, CO) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both, no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 81201 has a population of 8,645 at 8 people per square mile, while ZIP 81242 has 606 at 106 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 81201 reports a median household income of $80,248 against $95,865 in ZIP 81242, with per-capita income of $51,183 vs $59,042. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 51.8% in 81201 and 34.4% in 81242. Poverty rate reads 11.5% vs 0.5%, and unemployment 1.0% 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 $674,000 in 81201 versus $482,500 in 81242, with median rent of $1,459 and $1,765 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 69.5% vs 88.4%. 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.