ZIP 81242 vs ZIP 81201

This side-by-side compares ZIP 81242 (Poncha Springs, CO) and ZIP 81201 (Salida, CO) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both, no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 81242 has a population of 606 at 106 people per square mile, while ZIP 81201 has 8,645 at 8 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 81242 reports a median household income of $95,865 against $80,248 in ZIP 81201, with per-capita income of $59,042 vs $51,183. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 34.4% in 81242 and 51.8% in 81201. Poverty rate reads 0.5% vs 11.5%, and unemployment 0.0% vs 1.0% - 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 $482,500 in 81242 versus $674,000 in 81201, with median rent of $1,765 and $1,459 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 88.4% vs 69.5%. 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.