ZIP 98232 vs ZIP 98233

This side-by-side compares ZIP 98232 (Bow, WA) and ZIP 98233 (Burlington, WA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 98232 has a population of 3,920 at 28 people per square mile, while ZIP 98233 has 14,871 at 170 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 98232 reports a median household income of $104,559 against $87,614 in ZIP 98233, with per-capita income of $52,697 vs $39,379. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 35.9% in 98232 and 22.3% in 98233. Poverty rate reads 2.9% vs 12.7%, and unemployment 2.3% vs 5.0% — 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 $782,200 in 98232 versus $502,100 in 98233, with median rent of $1,640 and $1,708 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 90.0% vs 59.4%. 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.