ZIP 88030 vs ZIP 88029

This side-by-side compares ZIP 88030 (Deming, NM) and ZIP 88029 (Columbus, NM) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 88030 has a population of 23,222 at 4 people per square mile, while ZIP 88029 has 1,873 at 4 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 88030 reports a median household income of $37,417 against $26,090 in ZIP 88029, with per-capita income of $22,513 vs $17,680. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 14.9% in 88030 and 8.2% in 88029. Poverty rate reads 28.9% vs 22.9%, and unemployment 5.4% vs 6.3% — 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 $130,200 in 88030 versus $105,600 in 88029, with median rent of $659 and $414 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 71.7% vs 54.4%. 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.