ZIP 81526 vs ZIP 81520

This side-by-side compares ZIP 81526 (Palisade, 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 81526 has a population of 5,321 at 40 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 81526 reports a median household income of $87,500 against $50,283 in ZIP 81520, with per-capita income of $46,264 vs $27,088. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 35.6% in 81526 and 14.0% in 81520. Poverty rate reads 10.2% vs 20.9%, and unemployment 6.7% 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 $501,800 in 81526 versus $249,600 in 81520, with median rent of $1,317 and $1,026 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 76.4% 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.