ZIP 98261 vs ZIP 98280

This side-by-side compares ZIP 98261 (Lopez Island, WA) and ZIP 98280 (Orcas, WA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 98261 has a population of 2,383 at 31 people per square mile, while ZIP 98280 has 480 at 26 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 98261 reports a median household income of $80,119 against $80,192 in ZIP 98280, with per-capita income of $50,406 vs $62,035. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 59.6% in 98261 and 68.5% in 98280. Poverty rate reads 14.8% vs 7.7%, and unemployment 4.0% vs 4.5% — 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 $787,800 in 98261 versus $1,031,300 in 98280, with median rent of $1,168 and $1,906 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 80.6% vs 83.9%. 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.