ZIP 98387 vs ZIP 98446

This side-by-side compares ZIP 98387 (Spanaway, WA) and ZIP 98446 (Tacoma, WA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 98387 has a population of 43,173 at 588 people per square mile, while ZIP 98446 has 10,173 at 357 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 98387 reports a median household income of $106,872 against $101,938 in ZIP 98446, with per-capita income of $40,831 vs $44,225. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 18.4% in 98387 and 21.5% in 98446. Poverty rate reads 7.4% vs 9.0%, and unemployment 4.3% vs 8.2% — 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 $461,000 in 98387 versus $487,500 in 98446, with median rent of $1,869 and $1,991 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 77.4% vs 66.8%. 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.