ZIP 87538 vs ZIP 87565

This side-by-side compares ZIP 87538 (Ilfeld, NM) and ZIP 87565 (San Jose, NM) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 87538 has a population of 493 at 2 people per square mile, while ZIP 87565 has 478 at 4 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 87538 reports a median household income of — against $24,190 in ZIP 87565, with per-capita income of $46,517 vs $21,960. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 20.2% in 87538 and 17.0% in 87565. Poverty rate reads 37.7% vs 0.0%, and unemployment 0.0% vs — — 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 87538 versus $228,200 in 87565, with median rent of — and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 100.0% vs 100.0%. 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.