ZIP 82501 vs ZIP 82520

This side-by-side compares ZIP 82501 (Riverton, WY) and ZIP 82520 (Lander, WY) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 82501 has a population of 19,408 at 8 people per square mile, while ZIP 82520 has 13,535 at 2 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 82501 reports a median household income of $60,449 against $76,959 in ZIP 82520, with per-capita income of $31,081 vs $36,044. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 22.7% in 82501 and 35.7% in 82520. Poverty rate reads 13.3% vs 10.0%, and unemployment 5.3% vs 10.2% — 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 $237,800 in 82501 versus $337,700 in 82520, with median rent of $924 and $902 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 65.3% vs 73.9%. 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.