ZIP 98250 vs ZIP 98286

This side-by-side compares ZIP 98250 (Friday Harbor, WA) and ZIP 98286 (Shaw Island, WA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 98250 has a population of 7,664 at 48 people per square mile, while ZIP 98286 has 240 at 12 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 98250 reports a median household income of $88,556 against $74,250 in ZIP 98286, with per-capita income of $69,176 vs $45,626. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 52.1% in 98250 and 44.3% in 98286. Poverty rate reads 10.1% vs 9.7%, and unemployment 2.0% vs 0.0% — 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 $801,200 in 98250 versus $675,000 in 98286, with median rent of $1,645 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 76.3% vs 72.4%. 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.