ZIP 87556 vs ZIP 87519

This side-by-side compares ZIP 87556 (Questa, NM) and ZIP 87519 (Cerro, NM) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 87556 has a population of 2,417 at 5 people per square mile, while ZIP 87519 has 460 at 8 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 87556 reports a median household income of $52,546 against — in ZIP 87519, with per-capita income of $28,007 vs $36,663. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 31.8% in 87556 and 0.0% in 87519. Poverty rate reads 14.3% vs 3.6%, and unemployment 2.2% 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 $241,600 in 87556 versus $446,500 in 87519, with median rent of $703 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 74.7% 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.