ZIP 81221 vs ZIP 81244

This side-by-side compares ZIP 81221 (Coal Creek, CO) and ZIP 81244 (Rockvale, CO) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 81221 has a population of 310 at 80 people per square mile, while ZIP 81244 has 398 at 42 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 81221 reports a median household income of $34,000 against $51,250 in ZIP 81244, with per-capita income of $30,776 vs $21,634. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 12.4% in 81221 and 10.7% in 81244. Poverty rate reads 24.4% vs 10.0%, and unemployment 11.6% vs 4.7% — 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 $199,000 in 81221 versus $195,200 in 81244, with median rent of $1,225 and $880 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 88.8% vs 94.1%. 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.