ZIP 88203 vs ZIP 88201

This side-by-side compares ZIP 88203 (Roswell, NM) and ZIP 88201 (Roswell, NM) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 88203 has a population of 31,561 at 8 people per square mile, while ZIP 88201 has 25,490 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 88203 reports a median household income of $42,207 against $61,780 in ZIP 88201, with per-capita income of $22,944 vs $36,777. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 11.3% in 88203 and 26.9% in 88201. Poverty rate reads 24.5% vs 23.2%, and unemployment 6.2% vs 3.6% — 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 $126,600 in 88203 versus $225,000 in 88201, with median rent of $789 and $991 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 65.3% vs 75.5%. 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.