ZIP 97301 vs ZIP 97305

This side-by-side compares ZIP 97301 (Salem, OR) and ZIP 97305 (Salem, OR) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 97301 has a population of 53,518 at 1,784 people per square mile, while ZIP 97305 has 40,176 at 325 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 97301 reports a median household income of $60,422 against $66,326 in ZIP 97305, with per-capita income of $26,930 vs $27,458. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 16.4% in 97301 and 17.1% in 97305. Poverty rate reads 20.2% vs 19.4%, and unemployment 7.3% vs 6.8% — 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 $341,000 in 97301 versus $372,200 in 97305, with median rent of $1,278 and $1,453 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 42.8% vs 52.8%. 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.