ZIP 98222 vs ZIP 98279

This side-by-side compares ZIP 98222 (Blakely Island, WA) and ZIP 98279 (Olga, WA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 98222 has a population of 33 at 2 people per square mile, while ZIP 98279 has 608 at 17 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 98222 reports a median household income of $106,333 against $70,417 in ZIP 98279, with per-capita income of $63,236 vs $52,026. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 54.0% in 98222 and 49.5% in 98279. Poverty rate reads 26.0% vs 25.3%, and unemployment 0.0% vs 7.1% — 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 $801,500 in 98222 versus $937,500 in 98279, with median rent of — and $2,101 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 74.1% vs 69.9%. 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.