ZIP 87002 vs ZIP 87023

This side-by-side compares ZIP 87002 (Belen, NM) and ZIP 87023 (Jarales, NM) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 87002 has a population of 22,517 at 25 people per square mile, while ZIP 87023 has 665 at 82 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 87002 reports a median household income of $51,961 against — in ZIP 87023, with per-capita income of $28,303 vs $27,761. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 19.3% in 87002 and 18.9% in 87023. Poverty rate reads 22.2% vs 12.4%, and unemployment 7.9% vs 0.0% — 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 $185,100 in 87002 versus $169,300 in 87023, with median rent of $959 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 82.3% vs 85.8%. 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.