ZIP 87418 vs ZIP 87415

This side-by-side compares ZIP 87418 (La Plata, NM) and ZIP 87415 (Flora Vista, NM) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 87418 has a population of 1,059 at 7 people per square mile, while ZIP 87415 has 1,791 at 63 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 87418 reports a median household income of $82,750 against $44,095 in ZIP 87415, with per-capita income of $45,806 vs $27,259. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 27.5% in 87418 and 11.2% in 87415. Poverty rate reads 23.3% vs 14.0%, and unemployment 3.7% 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 $225,000 in 87418 versus $219,100 in 87415, with median rent of — and $1,495 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 82.0% vs 80.8%. 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.