ZIP 84078 vs ZIP 84026

This side-by-side compares ZIP 84078 (Vernal, UT) and ZIP 84026 (Fort Duchesne, UT) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 84078 has a population of 25,851 at 11 people per square mile, while ZIP 84026 has 1,668 at 15 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 84078 reports a median household income of $75,113 against $32,321 in ZIP 84026, with per-capita income of $31,568 vs $22,790. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 18.0% in 84078 and 5.2% in 84026. Poverty rate reads 11.0% vs 33.2%, and unemployment 5.8% vs 25.5% — 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 $309,000 in 84078 versus $201,100 in 84026, with median rent of $932 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 71.6% vs 59.7%. 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.