ZIP 83220 vs ZIP 83254

This side-by-side compares ZIP 83220 (Bern, ID) and ZIP 83254 (Montpelier, ID) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both, no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 83220 has a population of 137 at 2 people per square mile, while ZIP 83254 has 3,617 at 3 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 83220 reports a median household income of $78,021 against $64,839 in ZIP 83254, with per-capita income of $42,435 vs $31,212. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 23.9% in 83220 and 20.8% in 83254. Poverty rate reads 21.0% vs 6.4%, and unemployment 0.0% vs 2.5% - 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 - in 83220 versus $253,800 in 83254, with median rent of - and $543 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 100.0% vs 86.2%. 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.