ZIP 81435 vs ZIP 81423

This side-by-side compares ZIP 81435 (Telluride, CO) and ZIP 81423 (Norwood, CO) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both, no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 81435 has a population of 4,965 at 14 people per square mile, while ZIP 81423 has 1,480 at 1 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 81435 reports a median household income of $83,076 against $62,125 in ZIP 81423, with per-capita income of $83,123 vs $37,621. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 73.1% in 81435 and 30.1% in 81423. Poverty rate reads 9.1% vs 10.0%, and unemployment 2.5% vs 2.3% - 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 $982,600 in 81435 versus $425,000 in 81423, with median rent of $1,131 and $1,231 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 56.8% vs 82.2%. 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.