ZIP 81332 vs ZIP 81426

This side-by-side compares ZIP 81332 (Rico, CO) and ZIP 81426 (Ophir, CO) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both, no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 81332 has a population of 282 at 2 people per square mile, while ZIP 81426 has 181 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 81332 reports a median household income of $104,250 against $135,179 in ZIP 81426, with per-capita income of $55,883 vs $67,135. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 51.0% in 81332 and 92.2% in 81426. Poverty rate reads 17.6% vs 17.5%, and unemployment 0.0% vs 1.9% - 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 $560,400 in 81332 versus $906,300 in 81426, with median rent of $1,625 and - per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 87.2% vs 71.2%. 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.