ZIP 97431 vs ZIP 97452

This side-by-side compares ZIP 97431 (Dexter, OR) and ZIP 97452 (Lowell, OR) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 97431 has a population of 2,335 at 22 people per square mile, while ZIP 97452 has 1,420 at 26 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 97431 reports a median household income of $60,714 against $97,669 in ZIP 97452, with per-capita income of $29,891 vs $40,290. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 25.4% in 97431 and 25.1% in 97452. Poverty rate reads 23.2% vs 8.4%, and unemployment 4.4% vs 0.0% — 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 $354,800 in 97431 versus $439,300 in 97452, with median rent of $1,840 and $1,179 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 75.4% vs 85.5%. 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.