ZIP 83709 vs ZIP 83646

This side-by-side compares ZIP 83709 (Boise, ID) and ZIP 83646 (Meridian, ID) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 83709 has a population of 50,034 at 558 people per square mile, while ZIP 83646 has 47,098 at 660 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 83709 reports a median household income of $92,786 against $102,861 in ZIP 83646, with per-capita income of $42,999 vs $50,348. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 37.2% in 83709 and 44.3% in 83646. Poverty rate reads 7.4% vs 5.4%, and unemployment 2.4% vs 3.2% — 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 $474,000 in 83709 versus $542,500 in 83646, with median rent of $1,803 and $1,892 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 81.3% vs 80.2%. 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.