ZIP 97454 vs ZIP 97478

This side-by-side compares ZIP 97454 (Marcola, OR) and ZIP 97478 (Springfield, OR) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 97454 has a population of 1,337 at 9 people per square mile, while ZIP 97478 has 37,011 at 88 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 97454 reports a median household income of $88,700 against $80,086 in ZIP 97478, with per-capita income of $52,224 vs $36,887. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 18.5% in 97454 and 22.3% in 97478. Poverty rate reads 9.2% vs 10.4%, and unemployment 5.5% vs 4.7% — 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 $454,200 in 97454 versus $387,700 in 97478, with median rent of $1,350 and $1,370 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 91.2% vs 69.0%. 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.