ZIP 88240 vs ZIP 88260

This side-by-side compares ZIP 88240 (Hobbs, NM) and ZIP 88260 (Lovington, 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 88260 has 14,343 at 7 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 $75,476 in ZIP 88260, with per-capita income of $31,306 vs $27,130. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 16.2% in 88240 and 13.4% in 88260. Poverty rate reads 19.4% vs 21.7%, and unemployment 6.8% vs 5.8% — 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 $175,400 in 88260, with median rent of $1,100 and $1,024 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 67.1% vs 76.3%. 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.