ZIP 87102 vs ZIP 87106

This side-by-side compares ZIP 87102 (Albuquerque, NM) and ZIP 87106 (Albuquerque, NM) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 87102 has a population of 21,204 at 1,259 people per square mile, while ZIP 87106 has 27,013 at 987 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 87102 reports a median household income of $42,990 against $49,781 in ZIP 87106, with per-capita income of $32,893 vs $38,071. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 37.1% in 87102 and 52.7% in 87106. Poverty rate reads 26.0% vs 22.9%, and unemployment 6.6% 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 $197,300 in 87102 versus $354,200 in 87106, with median rent of $928 and $936 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 35.4% vs 38.5%. 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.