ZIP 88312 vs ZIP 88355

This side-by-side compares ZIP 88312 (Alto, NM) and ZIP 88355 (Ruidoso, NM) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 88312 has a population of 2,586 at 10 people per square mile, while ZIP 88355 has 29 at 639 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 88312 reports a median household income of $80,345 against — in ZIP 88355, with per-capita income of $54,099 vs $24,695. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 44.3% in 88312 and 7.0% in 88355. Poverty rate reads 8.1% vs 13.7%, and unemployment 10.3% vs 0.0% — 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 $304,100 in 88312 versus — in 88355, with median rent of $1,328 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 94.9% vs 58.6%. 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.