ZIP 88253 vs ZIP 88232

This side-by-side compares ZIP 88253 (Lake Arthur, NM) and ZIP 88232 (Hagerman, NM) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 88253 has a population of 935 at 2 people per square mile, while ZIP 88232 has 2,525 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 88253 reports a median household income of $85,813 against $65,000 in ZIP 88232, with per-capita income of $39,053 vs $22,118. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 29.3% in 88253 and 12.6% in 88232. Poverty rate reads 8.0% vs 26.2%, and unemployment 8.0% vs 3.2% — 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 $168,300 in 88253 versus $134,700 in 88232, with median rent of $1,079 and $703 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 67.9% vs 86.2%. 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.