ZIP 97089 vs ZIP 97030

This side-by-side compares ZIP 97089 (Damascus, OR) and ZIP 97030 (Gresham, OR) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 97089 has a population of 11,986 at 213 people per square mile, while ZIP 97030 has 36,693 at 1,873 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 97089 reports a median household income of $123,689 against $69,239 in ZIP 97030, with per-capita income of $50,038 vs $35,613. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 35.1% in 97089 and 22.3% in 97030. Poverty rate reads 5.6% vs 15.7%, and unemployment 2.9% vs 5.0% — 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 $633,600 in 97089 versus $435,700 in 97030, with median rent of $2,605 and $1,667 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 90.6% vs 45.5%. 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.