ZIP 85121 vs ZIP 85248

This side-by-side compares ZIP 85121 (Bapchule, AZ) and ZIP 85248 (Chandler, AZ) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 85121 has a population of 2,178 at 12 people per square mile, while ZIP 85248 has 29,821 at 381 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 85121 reports a median household income of $31,173 against $94,495 in ZIP 85248, with per-capita income of $14,173 vs $64,865. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 6.8% in 85121 and 51.8% in 85248. Poverty rate reads 53.5% vs 7.1%, and unemployment 9.4% vs 3.7% — 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 — in 85121 versus $527,800 in 85248, with median rent of $398 and $1,907 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 54.4% vs 78.0%. 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.