ZIP 81501 vs ZIP 81506

This side-by-side compares ZIP 81501 (Grand Junction, CO) and ZIP 81506 (Grand Junction, CO) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 81501 has a population of 23,465 at 1,140 people per square mile, while ZIP 81506 has 10,961 at 329 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 81501 reports a median household income of $53,666 against $78,651 in ZIP 81506, with per-capita income of $34,037 vs $48,332. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 27.8% in 81501 and 43.1% in 81506. Poverty rate reads 17.9% vs 9.5%, and unemployment 7.5% vs 4.6% — 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 $314,700 in 81501 versus $448,300 in 81506, with median rent of $1,035 and $1,178 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 46.8% vs 65.8%. 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.