ZIP 97504 vs ZIP 97501

This side-by-side compares ZIP 97504 (Medford, OR) and ZIP 97501 (Medford, OR) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 97504 has a population of 44,444 at 367 people per square mile, while ZIP 97501 has 42,117 at 306 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 97504 reports a median household income of $83,923 against $63,977 in ZIP 97501, with per-capita income of $44,782 vs $32,026. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 38.3% in 97504 and 20.7% in 97501. Poverty rate reads 10.2% vs 15.7%, and unemployment 4.8% vs 5.8% — 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 $468,900 in 97504 versus $353,800 in 97501, with median rent of $1,414 and $1,326 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 63.7% vs 54.4%. 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.