ZIP 87116 vs ZIP 87108

This side-by-side compares ZIP 87116 (Albuquerque, NM) and ZIP 87108 (Albuquerque, NM) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 87116 has a population of 4,117 at 484 people per square mile, while ZIP 87108 has 38,647 at 2,540 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 87116 reports a median household income of $83,774 against $42,724 in ZIP 87108, with per-capita income of $38,770 vs $31,367. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 49.5% in 87116 and 34.6% in 87108. Poverty rate reads 11.8% vs 27.3%, and unemployment 3.0% 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 — in 87116 versus $243,200 in 87108, with median rent of $1,766 and $872 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 1.9% vs 37.5%. 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.