ZIP 98253 vs ZIP 98249

This side-by-side compares ZIP 98253 (Greenbank, WA) and ZIP 98249 (Freeland, WA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 98253 has a population of 1,837 at 57 people per square mile, while ZIP 98249 has 4,561 at 111 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 98253 reports a median household income of $71,131 against $99,519 in ZIP 98249, with per-capita income of $56,416 vs $63,963. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 60.1% in 98253 and 50.9% in 98249. Poverty rate reads 10.5% vs 8.2%, and unemployment 3.5% vs 2.2% — 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 $789,800 in 98253 versus $627,400 in 98249, with median rent of $1,470 and $1,566 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 88.6% vs 83.1%. 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.