ZIP 88240 vs ZIP 88242

This side-by-side compares ZIP 88240 (Hobbs, NM) and ZIP 88242 (Hobbs, NM) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 88240 has a population of 37,149 at 23 people per square mile, while ZIP 88242 has 6,141 at 43 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 88240 reports a median household income of $63,270 against $90,000 in ZIP 88242, with per-capita income of $31,306 vs $39,032. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 16.2% in 88240 and 20.0% in 88242. Poverty rate reads 19.4% vs 10.1%, and unemployment 6.8% vs 5.7% — 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 $186,900 in 88240 versus $260,200 in 88242, with median rent of $1,100 and $1,534 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 67.1% vs 84.4%. 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.