ZIP 85054 vs ZIP 85050

This side-by-side compares ZIP 85054 (Phoenix, AZ) and ZIP 85050 (Phoenix, AZ) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 85054 has a population of 5,384 at 231 people per square mile, while ZIP 85050 has 25,736 at 682 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 85054 reports a median household income of $91,507 against $139,836 in ZIP 85050, with per-capita income of $74,823 vs $69,548. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 60.4% in 85054 and 58.4% in 85050. Poverty rate reads 11.6% vs 4.5%, and unemployment 2.6% vs 3.2% — 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 $687,200 in 85054 versus $618,600 in 85050, with median rent of $2,239 and $2,377 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 36.9% vs 79.1%. 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.