ZIP 98402 vs ZIP 98418

This side-by-side compares ZIP 98402 (Tacoma, WA) and ZIP 98418 (Tacoma, WA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 98402 has a population of 6,356 at 2,606 people per square mile, while ZIP 98418 has 10,069 at 2,310 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 98402 reports a median household income of $60,505 against $89,706 in ZIP 98418, with per-capita income of $49,089 vs $40,256. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 43.4% in 98402 and 23.7% in 98418. Poverty rate reads 22.9% vs 12.3%, and unemployment 5.4% vs 6.2% — 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 $531,300 in 98402 versus $413,400 in 98418, with median rent of $1,553 and $1,639 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 17.8% vs 63.8%. 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.