ZIP 83866 vs ZIP 83830

This side-by-side compares ZIP 83866 (Santa, ID) and ZIP 83830 (Fernwood, ID) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 83866 has a population of 320 at 2 people per square mile, while ZIP 83830 has 733 at 5 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 83866 reports a median household income of $31,711 against $108,182 in ZIP 83830, with per-capita income of $17,616 vs $35,547. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 0.0% in 83866 and 5.4% in 83830. Poverty rate reads 0.0% vs 0.0%, and unemployment 0.0% vs 0.0% — 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 $271,300 in 83866 versus $280,800 in 83830, with median rent of — and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 66.3% vs 100.0%. 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.