ZIP 88268 vs ZIP 88220

This side-by-side compares ZIP 88268 (Whites City, NM) and ZIP 88220 (Carlsbad, NM) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 88268 has a population of 7 at 18 people per square mile, while ZIP 88220 has 33,725 at 6 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 88268 reports a median household income of — against $78,162 in ZIP 88220, with per-capita income of — vs $39,951. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is — in 88268 and 19.3% in 88220. Poverty rate reads — vs 13.3%, and unemployment — vs 5.2% — 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 — in 88268 versus $206,900 in 88220, with median rent of — and $1,241 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is — vs 74.0%. 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.