ZIP 87828 vs ZIP 87823

This side-by-side compares ZIP 87828 (Polvadera, NM) and ZIP 87823 (Lemitar, NM) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 87828 has a population of 429 at 84 people per square mile, while ZIP 87823 has 884 at 6 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 87828 reports a median household income of — against — in ZIP 87823, with per-capita income of $29,703 vs $37,003. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 11.5% in 87828 and 16.1% in 87823. Poverty rate reads 85.8% vs 7.7%, and unemployment 0.0% 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 $116,400 in 87828 versus $97,700 in 87823, with median rent of — and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 84.0% 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.