ZIP 88220 vs ZIP 88210

This side-by-side compares ZIP 88220 (Carlsbad, NM) and ZIP 88210 (Artesia, NM) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 88220 has a population of 33,725 at 6 people per square mile, while ZIP 88210 has 17,217 at 5 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 88220 reports a median household income of $78,162 against $79,632 in ZIP 88210, with per-capita income of $39,951 vs $33,849. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 19.3% in 88220 and 19.5% in 88210. Poverty rate reads 13.3% vs 14.5%, and unemployment 5.2% vs 5.9% — 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 $206,900 in 88220 versus $223,800 in 88210, with median rent of $1,241 and $1,243 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 74.0% vs 71.3%. 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.