ZIP 98178 vs ZIP 98057

This side-by-side compares ZIP 98178 (Seattle, WA) and ZIP 98057 (Renton, WA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 98178 has a population of 24,092 at 1,920 people per square mile, while ZIP 98057 has 10,613 at 672 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 98178 reports a median household income of $99,505 against $68,552 in ZIP 98057, with per-capita income of $49,953 vs $49,543. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 36.1% in 98178 and 33.6% in 98057. Poverty rate reads 9.9% vs 14.2%, and unemployment 6.1% 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 $660,400 in 98178 versus $648,800 in 98057, with median rent of $1,869 and $1,806 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 66.7% vs 25.3%. 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.