ZIP 87937 vs ZIP 87941

This side-by-side compares ZIP 87937 (Hatch, NM) and ZIP 87941 (Salem, NM) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 87937 has a population of 3,303 at 7 people per square mile, while ZIP 87941 has 1,216 at 60 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 87937 reports a median household income of $39,495 against $31,332 in ZIP 87941, with per-capita income of $23,564 vs $13,649. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 4.4% in 87937 and 2.2% in 87941. Poverty rate reads 36.8% vs 52.0%, and unemployment 15.5% vs 8.2% — 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 $97,400 in 87937 versus $61,700 in 87941, with median rent of $468 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 65.8% vs 78.0%. 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.