ZIP 97028 vs ZIP 97049

This side-by-side compares ZIP 97028 (Government Camp, OR) and ZIP 97049 (Rhododendron, OR) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 97028 has a population of 217 at 2 people per square mile, while ZIP 97049 has 1,899 at 5 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 97028 reports a median household income of $76,716 against $92,056 in ZIP 97049, with per-capita income of $66,619 vs $58,552. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 43.3% in 97028 and 41.1% in 97049. Poverty rate reads 14.3% vs 5.0%, and unemployment 3.2% vs 4.6% — 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 $111,000 in 97028 versus $474,200 in 97049, with median rent of — and $2,170 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 66.9% vs 90.2%. 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.