ZIP 87935 vs ZIP 87901

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