ZIP 98105 vs ZIP 98115

This side-by-side compares ZIP 98105 (Seattle, WA) and ZIP 98115 (Seattle, WA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 98105 has a population of 43,924 at 4,109 people per square mile, while ZIP 98115 has 46,206 at 2,709 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 98105 reports a median household income of $74,349 against $156,142 in ZIP 98115, with per-capita income of $60,839 vs $91,860. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 78.3% in 98105 and 80.6% in 98115. Poverty rate reads 23.7% vs 5.9%, and unemployment 6.6% vs 3.8% — 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 $1,312,100 in 98105 versus $1,094,600 in 98115, with median rent of $1,849 and $2,143 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 31.4% vs 59.7%. 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.