ZIP 87701 vs ZIP 87552

This side-by-side compares ZIP 87701 (Las Vegas, NM) and ZIP 87552 (Pecos, NM) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 87701 has a population of 20,081 at 5 people per square mile, while ZIP 87552 has 3,325 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 87701 reports a median household income of $49,920 against $53,688 in ZIP 87552, with per-capita income of $29,888 vs $30,542. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 29.0% in 87701 and 27.1% in 87552. Poverty rate reads 28.0% vs 8.1%, and unemployment 3.7% vs 3.6% — 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 $182,200 in 87701 versus $234,300 in 87552, with median rent of $811 and $1,044 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 64.2% vs 84.2%. 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.