ZIP 97420 vs ZIP 97459

This side-by-side compares ZIP 97420 (Coos Bay, OR) and ZIP 97459 (North Bend, OR) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 97420 has a population of 27,473 at 45 people per square mile, while ZIP 97459 has 14,096 at 53 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 97420 reports a median household income of $61,574 against $82,035 in ZIP 97459, with per-capita income of $34,907 vs $43,795. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 21.2% in 97420 and 30.1% in 97459. Poverty rate reads 13.0% vs 12.4%, and unemployment 5.2% vs 5.4% — 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 $311,500 in 97420 versus $372,700 in 97459, with median rent of $1,011 and $1,080 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 67.3% vs 74.1%. 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.