ZIP 87901 vs ZIP 87935

This side-by-side compares ZIP 87901 (Truth Or Consequences, NM) and ZIP 87935 (Elephant Butte, NM) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 87901 has a population of 7,139 at 3 people per square mile, while ZIP 87935 has 1,770 at 19 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 87901 reports a median household income of $34,242 against $51,033 in ZIP 87935, with per-capita income of $22,652 vs $31,866. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 18.3% in 87901 and 16.5% in 87935. Poverty rate reads 30.8% vs 9.2%, and unemployment 1.6% vs 5.3% — 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 $128,700 in 87901 versus $197,700 in 87935, with median rent of $713 and $1,111 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 61.7% vs 75.6%. 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.