ZIP 97502 vs ZIP 97525

This side-by-side compares ZIP 97502 (Central Point, OR) and ZIP 97525 (Gold Hill, OR) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 97502 has a population of 27,694 at 113 people per square mile, while ZIP 97525 has 4,601 at 18 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 97502 reports a median household income of $83,488 against $72,025 in ZIP 97525, with per-capita income of $41,857 vs $42,573. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 24.8% in 97502 and 22.3% in 97525. Poverty rate reads 7.6% vs 10.9%, and unemployment 3.6% 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 $403,300 in 97502 versus $450,200 in 97525, with median rent of $1,335 and $1,209 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 73.3% vs 78.2%. 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.