ZIP 83686 vs ZIP 83605

This side-by-side compares ZIP 83686 (Nampa, ID) and ZIP 83605 (Caldwell, ID) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 83686 has a population of 46,224 at 201 people per square mile, while ZIP 83605 has 39,649 at 551 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 83686 reports a median household income of $86,518 against $68,427 in ZIP 83605, with per-capita income of $35,376 vs $25,866. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 27.3% in 83686 and 15.1% in 83605. Poverty rate reads 8.2% vs 12.4%, and unemployment 3.0% vs 6.1% — 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 $430,200 in 83686 versus $346,100 in 83605, with median rent of $1,361 and $1,124 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 76.7% vs 69.2%. 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.