ZIP 96762 vs ZIP 96731

This side-by-side compares ZIP 96762 (Laie, HI) and ZIP 96731 (Kahuku, HI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 96762 has a population of 6,419 at 206 people per square mile, while ZIP 96731 has 3,292 at 66 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 96762 reports a median household income of $125,645 against $73,417 in ZIP 96731, with per-capita income of $26,330 vs $35,455. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 45.1% in 96762 and 38.3% in 96731. Poverty rate reads 12.2% vs 8.4%, and unemployment 6.0% vs 5.9% — 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 $944,500 in 96762 versus $916,700 in 96731, with median rent of $2,350 and $1,422 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 40.9% vs 62.7%. 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.