ZIP 87540 vs ZIP 87508

This side-by-side compares ZIP 87540 (Lamy, NM) and ZIP 87508 (Santa Fe, NM) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 87540 has a population of 923 at 4 people per square mile, while ZIP 87508 has 18,183 at 48 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 87540 reports a median household income of $52,500 against $101,565 in ZIP 87508, with per-capita income of $47,767 vs $59,189. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 44.9% in 87540 and 53.3% in 87508. Poverty rate reads 6.7% vs 9.4%, and unemployment 2.5% vs 3.8% — 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 $729,700 in 87540 versus $561,200 in 87508, with median rent of $1,039 and $1,623 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 59.8% vs 92.6%. 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.