ZIP 85283 vs ZIP 85284

This side-by-side compares ZIP 85283 (Tempe, AZ) and ZIP 85284 (Tempe, AZ) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 85283 has a population of 44,813 at 1,967 people per square mile, while ZIP 85284 has 16,479 at 819 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 85283 reports a median household income of $84,568 against $156,146 in ZIP 85284, with per-capita income of $45,510 vs $76,201. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 44.5% in 85283 and 69.7% in 85284. Poverty rate reads 12.7% vs 2.8%, and unemployment 5.5% vs 4.7% — 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 $442,800 in 85283 versus $688,400 in 85284, with median rent of $1,767 and $2,236 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 50.9% vs 81.8%. 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.