ZIP 85531 vs ZIP 85552

This side-by-side compares ZIP 85531 (Central, AZ) and ZIP 85552 (Thatcher, AZ) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 85531 has a population of 623 at 58 people per square mile, while ZIP 85552 has 6,218 at 100 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 85531 reports a median household income of $97,365 against $88,454 in ZIP 85552, with per-capita income of $41,021 vs $33,787. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 54.1% in 85531 and 21.6% in 85552. Poverty rate reads 2.1% vs 9.9%, and unemployment 0.0% vs 4.9% — 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 $480,000 in 85531 versus $290,900 in 85552, with median rent of — and $937 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 71.4% vs 75.4%. 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.