ZIP 97539 vs ZIP 97503

This side-by-side compares ZIP 97539 (Shady Cove, OR) and ZIP 97503 (White City, OR) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 97539 has a population of 3,329 at 59 people per square mile, while ZIP 97503 has 10,528 at 49 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 97539 reports a median household income of $51,875 against $70,263 in ZIP 97503, with per-capita income of $30,832 vs $28,314. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 19.4% in 97539 and 10.7% in 97503. Poverty rate reads 12.9% vs 16.5%, and unemployment 6.8% vs 3.7% — 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 $389,900 in 97539 versus $327,500 in 97503, with median rent of $1,071 and $1,212 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 67.7% vs 83.7%. 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.