ZIP 83857 vs ZIP 83871

This side-by-side compares ZIP 83857 (Princeton, ID) and ZIP 83871 (Troy, ID) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 83857 has a population of 691 at 4 people per square mile, while ZIP 83871 has 1,938 at 7 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 83857 reports a median household income of $78,185 against $89,750 in ZIP 83871, with per-capita income of $28,607 vs $41,891. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 21.8% in 83857 and 38.0% in 83871. Poverty rate reads 2.1% vs 2.8%, and unemployment 6.4% vs 2.8% — 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 $335,300 in 83857 versus $361,800 in 83871, with median rent of — and $856 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 96.0% vs 88.2%. 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.