ZIP 97438 vs ZIP 97452

This side-by-side compares ZIP 97438 (Fall Creek, 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 97438 has a population of 1,191 at 4 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 97438 reports a median household income of $125,156 against $97,669 in ZIP 97452, with per-capita income of $46,930 vs $40,290. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 21.0% in 97438 and 25.1% in 97452. Poverty rate reads 0.6% vs 8.4%, and unemployment 0.0% 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 $584,900 in 97438 versus $439,300 in 97452, with median rent of $2,257 and $1,179 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 81.6% 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.