ZIP 84604 vs ZIP 84097

This side-by-side compares ZIP 84604 (Provo, UT) and ZIP 84097 (Orem, UT) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 84604 has a population of 49,145 at 152 people per square mile, while ZIP 84097 has 21,322 at 1,370 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 84604 reports a median household income of $75,571 against $94,194 in ZIP 84097, with per-capita income of $32,650 vs $44,537. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 56.5% in 84604 and 51.0% in 84097. Poverty rate reads 20.6% vs 6.9%, and unemployment 5.2% vs 5.2% — 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 $582,000 in 84604 versus $556,300 in 84097, with median rent of $1,178 and $1,598 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 47.5% vs 71.0%. 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.