ZIP 81506 vs ZIP 81501

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