ZIP 83856 vs ZIP 83822

This side-by-side compares ZIP 83856 (Priest River, ID) and ZIP 83822 (Oldtown, ID) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 83856 has a population of 6,340 at 7 people per square mile, while ZIP 83822 has 2,006 at 23 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 83856 reports a median household income of $75,285 against $56,490 in ZIP 83822, with per-capita income of $41,499 vs $39,924. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 20.1% in 83856 and 9.1% in 83822. Poverty rate reads 7.6% vs 6.7%, and unemployment 1.4% vs 8.2% — 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 $427,900 in 83856 versus $443,800 in 83822, with median rent of $897 and $887 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 86.0% vs 83.7%. 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.