ZIP 87580 vs ZIP 87514

This side-by-side compares ZIP 87580 (Valdez, NM) and ZIP 87514 (Arroyo Seco, NM) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 87580 has a population of 449 at 7 people per square mile, while ZIP 87514 has 1,345 at 30 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 87580 reports a median household income of — against $71,556 in ZIP 87514, with per-capita income of $29,151 vs $47,261. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 63.3% in 87580 and 49.5% in 87514. Poverty rate reads 33.1% vs 7.0%, and unemployment 0.0% vs 5.8% — 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 — in 87580 versus $545,200 in 87514, with median rent of — and $1,544 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 64.9% vs 81.0%. 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.