ZIP 97018 vs ZIP 97051

This side-by-side compares ZIP 97018 (Columbia City, OR) and ZIP 97051 (Saint Helens, OR) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 97018 has a population of 1,952 at 940 people per square mile, while ZIP 97051 has 15,957 at 128 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 97018 reports a median household income of $96,750 against $85,869 in ZIP 97051, with per-capita income of $40,488 vs $37,847. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 20.6% in 97018 and 18.5% in 97051. Poverty rate reads 9.4% vs 9.6%, and unemployment 3.1% vs 3.0% — 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 $460,000 in 97018 versus $412,100 in 97051, with median rent of $1,365 and $1,410 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 90.1% vs 64.5%. 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.