ZIP 85138 vs ZIP 85172

This side-by-side compares ZIP 85138 (Maricopa, AZ) and ZIP 85172 (Stanfield, AZ) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 85138 has a population of 33,633 at 175 people per square mile, while ZIP 85172 has 1,368 at 8 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 85138 reports a median household income of $95,867 against $71,806 in ZIP 85172, with per-capita income of $37,296 vs $27,441. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 23.7% in 85138 and 16.4% in 85172. Poverty rate reads 7.3% vs 15.0%, and unemployment 5.3% vs 12.1% — 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 $378,800 in 85138 versus $159,600 in 85172, with median rent of $1,974 and $944 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 82.3% vs 47.4%. 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.