ZIP 98023 vs ZIP 98422

This side-by-side compares ZIP 98023 (Federal Way, WA) and ZIP 98422 (Tacoma, WA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 98023 has a population of 47,510 at 1,775 people per square mile, while ZIP 98422 has 20,151 at 1,168 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 98023 reports a median household income of $104,893 against $118,604 in ZIP 98422, with per-capita income of $46,636 vs $55,678. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 33.9% in 98023 and 40.8% in 98422. Poverty rate reads 9.0% vs 5.7%, and unemployment 3.8% 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 $589,900 in 98023 versus $663,800 in 98422, with median rent of $1,900 and $2,180 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 65.6% vs 78.1%. 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.