ZIP 85212 vs ZIP 85209

This side-by-side compares ZIP 85212 (Mesa, AZ) and ZIP 85209 (Mesa, AZ) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 85212 has a population of 24,492 at 267 people per square mile, while ZIP 85209 has 37,377 at 1,303 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 85212 reports a median household income of $125,902 against $84,432 in ZIP 85209, with per-capita income of $46,850 vs $45,424. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 42.4% in 85212 and 35.3% in 85209. Poverty rate reads 3.4% vs 7.3%, and unemployment 2.8% vs 2.8% — 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 $584,000 in 85212 versus $402,900 in 85209, with median rent of $2,209 and $1,864 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 84.1% vs 73.1%. 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.