ZIP 83281 vs ZIP 83228

This side-by-side compares ZIP 83281 (Swanlake, ID) and ZIP 83228 (Clifton, ID) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 83281 has a population of 93 at 1 people per square mile, while ZIP 83228 has 522 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 83281 reports a median household income of $131,213 against $73,750 in ZIP 83228, with per-capita income of $60,430 vs $26,354. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 27.5% in 83281 and 20.7% in 83228. Poverty rate reads 0.0% vs 1.9%, and unemployment 0.0% vs 1.7% — 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 83281 versus $292,300 in 83228, with median rent of — and $964 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 100.0% vs 92.7%. 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.