ZIP 83355 vs ZIP 83316

This side-by-side compares ZIP 83355 (Wendell, ID) and ZIP 83316 (Buhl, ID) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 83355 has a population of 5,405 at 18 people per square mile, while ZIP 83316 has 9,626 at 14 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 83355 reports a median household income of $65,764 against $69,593 in ZIP 83316, with per-capita income of $26,195 vs $37,310. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 8.6% in 83355 and 21.1% in 83316. Poverty rate reads 8.1% vs 10.0%, and unemployment 3.9% vs 5.4% — 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 $283,300 in 83355 versus $310,300 in 83316, with median rent of $862 and $915 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 64.6% vs 76.9%. 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.