ZIP 81524 vs ZIP 81521

This side-by-side compares ZIP 81524 (Loma, CO) and ZIP 81521 (Fruita, CO) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 81524 has a population of 2,300 at 5 people per square mile, while ZIP 81521 has 15,397 at 40 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 81524 reports a median household income of $99,947 against $88,458 in ZIP 81521, with per-capita income of $40,301 vs $43,586. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 40.0% in 81524 and 34.0% in 81521. Poverty rate reads 3.3% vs 3.7%, and unemployment 6.1% vs 3.6% — 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 $665,600 in 81524 versus $422,900 in 81521, with median rent of — and $1,398 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 85.3% 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.