ZIP 88022 vs ZIP 88026

This side-by-side compares ZIP 88022 (Arenas Valley, NM) and ZIP 88026 (Santa Clara, NM) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 88022 has a population of 1,343 at 44 people per square mile, while ZIP 88026 has 1,658 at 126 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 88022 reports a median household income of $37,147 against $57,898 in ZIP 88026, with per-capita income of $28,221 vs $31,110. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 19.2% in 88022 and 14.2% in 88026. Poverty rate reads 8.3% vs 23.4%, and unemployment 0.0% vs 6.2% — 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 $173,100 in 88022 versus $141,500 in 88026, with median rent of — and $543 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 75.1% vs 80.1%. 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.