ZIP 81222 vs ZIP 81233

This side-by-side compares ZIP 81222 (Coaldale, CO) and ZIP 81233 (Howard, CO) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 81222 has a population of 263 at 3 people per square mile, while ZIP 81233 has 823 at 4 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 81222 reports a median household income of — against $60,386 in ZIP 81233, with per-capita income of $93,805 vs $43,145. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 8.3% in 81222 and 28.3% in 81233. Poverty rate reads 19.9% vs 0.0%, and unemployment 0.0% vs 2.2% — 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 $383,300 in 81222 versus $474,600 in 81233, with median rent of — and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 100.0% vs 68.1%. 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.