ZIP 87801 vs ZIP 87825

This side-by-side compares ZIP 87801 (Socorro, NM) and ZIP 87825 (Magdalena, NM) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 87801 has a population of 10,221 at 28 people per square mile, while ZIP 87825 has 2,999 at 0 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 87801 reports a median household income of $46,525 against $30,596 in ZIP 87825, with per-capita income of $23,147 vs $75,251. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 23.8% in 87801 and 13.3% in 87825. Poverty rate reads 30.7% vs 25.7%, and unemployment 1.9% 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 $165,400 in 87801 versus $104,000 in 87825, with median rent of $715 and $833 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 63.5% vs 78.7%. 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.