ZIP 98409 vs ZIP 98405

This side-by-side compares ZIP 98409 (Tacoma, WA) and ZIP 98405 (Tacoma, WA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 98409 has a population of 22,989 at 1,249 people per square mile, while ZIP 98405 has 22,851 at 2,136 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 98409 reports a median household income of $73,348 against $75,946 in ZIP 98405, with per-capita income of $40,831 vs $41,401. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 22.4% in 98409 and 32.2% in 98405. Poverty rate reads 15.6% vs 15.9%, and unemployment 6.6% vs 3.9% — 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 $394,500 in 98409 versus $464,700 in 98405, with median rent of $1,645 and $1,551 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 44.4% vs 49.2%. 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.