ZIP 98290 vs ZIP 98296

This side-by-side compares ZIP 98290 (Snohomish, WA) and ZIP 98296 (Snohomish, WA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 98290 has a population of 32,714 at 107 people per square mile, while ZIP 98296 has 27,956 at 317 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 98290 reports a median household income of $132,973 against $177,583 in ZIP 98296, with per-capita income of $59,849 vs $73,565. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 37.6% in 98290 and 48.6% in 98296. Poverty rate reads 4.6% vs 5.7%, and unemployment 5.2% vs 1.9% — 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 $784,200 in 98290 versus $927,700 in 98296, with median rent of $1,721 and $2,358 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 80.7% vs 88.9%. 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.