ZIP 87511 vs ZIP 87527

This side-by-side compares ZIP 87511 (Alcalde, NM) and ZIP 87527 (Dixon, NM) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 87511 has a population of 2,747 at 19 people per square mile, while ZIP 87527 has 880 at 9 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 87511 reports a median household income of $70,346 against $65,461 in ZIP 87527, with per-capita income of $31,768 vs $24,184. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 19.3% in 87511 and 31.5% in 87527. Poverty rate reads 5.1% vs 34.0%, and unemployment 0.7% vs 11.4% — 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 $237,900 in 87511 versus $406,300 in 87527, with median rent of $654 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 83.9% vs 76.9%. 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.