ZIP 97210 vs ZIP 97221

This side-by-side compares ZIP 97210 (Portland, OR) and ZIP 97221 (Portland, OR) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 97210 has a population of 10,887 at 558 people per square mile, while ZIP 97221 has 11,630 at 1,048 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 97210 reports a median household income of $93,621 against $145,671 in ZIP 97221, with per-capita income of $91,660 vs $87,696. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 77.3% in 97210 and 76.6% in 97221. Poverty rate reads 10.0% vs 6.7%, and unemployment 4.8% vs 2.5% — 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 $991,200 in 97210 versus $821,400 in 97221, with median rent of $1,653 and $1,738 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 32.1% vs 71.2%. 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.