ZIP 98303 vs ZIP 98388

This side-by-side compares ZIP 98303 (Anderson Island, WA) and ZIP 98388 (Steilacoom, WA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 98303 has a population of 1,037 at 52 people per square mile, while ZIP 98388 has 7,508 at 328 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 98303 reports a median household income of $80,282 against $100,851 in ZIP 98388, with per-capita income of $89,049 vs $52,413. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 44.0% in 98303 and 45.8% in 98388. Poverty rate reads 23.1% vs 14.4%, and unemployment 0.0% vs 6.0% — 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 $546,300 in 98303 versus $655,000 in 98388, with median rent of — and $1,818 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 96.6% vs 62.9%. 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.