ZIP 88130 vs ZIP 88116

This side-by-side compares ZIP 88130 (Portales, NM) and ZIP 88116 (Elida, NM) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 88130 has a population of 18,651 at 12 people per square mile, while ZIP 88116 has 455 at 0 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 88130 reports a median household income of $52,434 against $54,239 in ZIP 88116, with per-capita income of $25,435 vs $45,911. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 21.4% in 88130 and 25.4% in 88116. Poverty rate reads 22.0% vs 17.5%, and unemployment 5.1% vs 0.0% — 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 $135,000 in 88130 versus — in 88116, with median rent of $901 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 59.4% vs 75.8%. 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.