ZIP 98119 vs ZIP 98109

This side-by-side compares ZIP 98119 (Seattle, WA) and ZIP 98109 (Seattle, WA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 98119 has a population of 21,039 at 3,333 people per square mile, while ZIP 98109 has 20,715 at 4,011 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 98119 reports a median household income of $123,551 against $133,663 in ZIP 98109, with per-capita income of $100,698 vs $117,676. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 71.1% in 98119 and 79.4% in 98109. Poverty rate reads 6.0% vs 8.7%, and unemployment 5.0% vs 4.2% — 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 $1,047,600 in 98119 versus $1,034,100 in 98109, with median rent of $2,050 and $2,343 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 38.2% vs 21.1%. 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.