ZIP 87323 vs ZIP 87312

This side-by-side compares ZIP 87323 (Thoreau, NM) and ZIP 87312 (Continental Divide, NM) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 87323 has a population of 4,558 at 6 people per square mile, while ZIP 87312 has 579 at 5 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 87323 reports a median household income of $51,616 against $48,977 in ZIP 87312, with per-capita income of $19,881 vs $18,638. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 18.0% in 87323 and 29.3% in 87312. Poverty rate reads 40.2% vs 26.3%, and unemployment 9.1% vs 6.4% — 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 $138,200 in 87323 versus $78,000 in 87312, with median rent of $485 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 90.7% vs 97.7%. 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.