ZIP 81503 vs ZIP 81520

This side-by-side compares ZIP 81503 (Grand Junction, CO) and ZIP 81520 (Clifton, CO) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 81503 has a population of 15,250 at 168 people per square mile, while ZIP 81520 has 13,447 at 251 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 81503 reports a median household income of $75,053 against $50,283 in ZIP 81520, with per-capita income of $33,457 vs $27,088. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 24.8% in 81503 and 14.0% in 81520. Poverty rate reads 7.6% vs 20.9%, and unemployment 4.3% vs 8.3% — 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 $352,100 in 81503 versus $249,600 in 81520, with median rent of $985 and $1,026 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 77.1% vs 67.3%. 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.