ZIP 98262 vs ZIP 98279

This side-by-side compares ZIP 98262 (Lummi 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 98262 has a population of 964 at 40 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 98262 reports a median household income of $83,000 against $70,417 in ZIP 98279, with per-capita income of $52,853 vs $52,026. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 59.6% in 98262 and 49.5% in 98279. Poverty rate reads 7.3% vs 25.3%, and unemployment 3.0% 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 $579,000 in 98262 versus $937,500 in 98279, with median rent of — and $2,101 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 88.9% 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.