ZIP 87035 vs ZIP 87016

This side-by-side compares ZIP 87035 (Moriarty, NM) and ZIP 87016 (Estancia, NM) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both, no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 87035 has a population of 7,268 at 13 people per square mile, while ZIP 87016 has 3,730 at 2 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 87035 reports a median household income of $44,938 against $55,296 in ZIP 87016, with per-capita income of $28,035 vs $30,615. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 11.0% in 87035 and 10.9% in 87016. Poverty rate reads 23.1% vs 22.3%, and unemployment 9.2% vs 24.7% - 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 $162,700 in 87035 versus $122,100 in 87016, with median rent of $933 and $847 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 79.5% vs 78.7%. 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.