ZIP 98122 vs ZIP 98112

This side-by-side compares ZIP 98122 (Seattle, WA) and ZIP 98112 (Seattle, WA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 98122 has a population of 31,454 at 5,251 people per square mile, while ZIP 98112 has 21,077 at 2,575 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 98122 reports a median household income of $106,886 against $171,572 in ZIP 98112, with per-capita income of $92,135 vs $133,171. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 71.2% in 98122 and 81.8% in 98112. Poverty rate reads 12.9% vs 4.7%, and unemployment 6.2% vs 6.4% — 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 $957,100 in 98122 versus $1,549,100 in 98112, with median rent of $1,991 and $2,136 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 28.4% vs 60.2%. 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.