ZIP 83641 vs ZIP 83686

This side-by-side compares ZIP 83641 (Melba, ID) and ZIP 83686 (Nampa, ID) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 83641 has a population of 3,438 at 8 people per square mile, while ZIP 83686 has 46,224 at 201 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 83641 reports a median household income of $84,730 against $86,518 in ZIP 83686, with per-capita income of $34,416 vs $35,376. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 21.9% in 83641 and 27.3% in 83686. Poverty rate reads 8.5% vs 8.2%, and unemployment 1.3% vs 3.0% — 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 $425,700 in 83641 versus $430,200 in 83686, with median rent of $1,107 and $1,361 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 81.1% vs 76.7%. 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.