ZIP 98270 vs ZIP 98258

This side-by-side compares ZIP 98270 (Marysville, WA) and ZIP 98258 (Lake Stevens, WA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 98270 has a population of 45,899 at 1,238 people per square mile, while ZIP 98258 has 30,524 at 408 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 98270 reports a median household income of $108,147 against $123,898 in ZIP 98258, with per-capita income of $43,213 vs $50,096. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 25.1% in 98270 and 33.0% in 98258. Poverty rate reads 7.6% vs 4.8%, and unemployment 4.3% vs 4.3% — 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 $579,900 in 98270 versus $653,100 in 98258, with median rent of $1,918 and $2,199 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 70.6% vs 78.5%. 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.