ZIP 88355 vs ZIP 88345

This side-by-side compares ZIP 88355 (Ruidoso, NM) and ZIP 88345 (Ruidoso, NM) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 88355 has a population of 29 at 639 people per square mile, while ZIP 88345 has 8,845 at 104 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 88355 reports a median household income of — against $53,971 in ZIP 88345, with per-capita income of $24,695 vs $38,044. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 7.0% in 88355 and 38.4% in 88345. Poverty rate reads 13.7% vs 19.7%, and unemployment 0.0% 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 — in 88355 versus $263,700 in 88345, with median rent of — and $917 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 58.6% vs 70.2%. 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.