ZIP 81240 vs ZIP 81221

This side-by-side compares ZIP 81240 (Penrose, CO) and ZIP 81221 (Coal Creek, CO) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 81240 has a population of 4,323 at 11 people per square mile, while ZIP 81221 has 310 at 80 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 81240 reports a median household income of $90,417 against $34,000 in ZIP 81221, with per-capita income of $59,442 vs $30,776. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 34.8% in 81240 and 12.4% in 81221. Poverty rate reads 9.6% vs 24.4%, and unemployment 5.6% vs 11.6% — 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 $341,400 in 81240 versus $199,000 in 81221, with median rent of $1,252 and $1,225 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 81.0% vs 88.8%. 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.