ZIP 86326 vs ZIP 86331

This side-by-side compares ZIP 86326 (Cottonwood, AZ) and ZIP 86331 (Jerome, AZ) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 86326 has a population of 23,344 at 167 people per square mile, while ZIP 86331 has 477 at 4 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 86326 reports a median household income of $57,378 against $40,096 in ZIP 86331, with per-capita income of $35,414 vs $32,880. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 27.4% in 86326 and 30.7% in 86331. Poverty rate reads 15.8% vs 16.9%, and unemployment 3.9% vs 9.3% — 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 $345,300 in 86326 versus $386,800 in 86331, with median rent of $1,141 and $957 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 65.5% vs 53.4%. 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.