ZIP 97386 vs ZIP 97454

This side-by-side compares ZIP 97386 (Sweet Home, OR) and ZIP 97454 (Marcola, OR) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 97386 has a population of 13,567 at 41 people per square mile, while ZIP 97454 has 1,337 at 9 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 97386 reports a median household income of $64,669 against $88,700 in ZIP 97454, with per-capita income of $33,109 vs $52,224. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 12.7% in 97386 and 18.5% in 97454. Poverty rate reads 16.6% vs 9.2%, and unemployment 8.0% vs 5.5% — 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 $331,600 in 97386 versus $454,200 in 97454, with median rent of $1,303 and $1,350 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 72.5% vs 91.2%. 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.