ZIP 97459 vs ZIP 97420

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