ZIP 88230 vs ZIP 88203

This side-by-side compares ZIP 88230 (Dexter, NM) and ZIP 88203 (Roswell, NM) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 88230 has a population of 5,179 at 8 people per square mile, while ZIP 88203 has 31,561 at 8 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 88230 reports a median household income of $43,469 against $42,207 in ZIP 88203, with per-capita income of $22,596 vs $22,944. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 12.0% in 88230 and 11.3% in 88203. Poverty rate reads 32.1% vs 24.5%, and unemployment 6.7% 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 $104,800 in 88230 versus $126,600 in 88203, with median rent of $783 and $789 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 79.3% vs 65.3%. 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.