ZIP 98446 vs ZIP 98445

This side-by-side compares ZIP 98446 (Tacoma, WA) and ZIP 98445 (Tacoma, WA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 98446 has a population of 10,173 at 357 people per square mile, while ZIP 98445 has 29,661 at 1,098 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 98446 reports a median household income of $101,938 against $92,520 in ZIP 98445, with per-capita income of $44,225 vs $37,944. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 21.5% in 98446 and 18.7% in 98445. Poverty rate reads 9.0% vs 9.1%, and unemployment 8.2% vs 6.1% — 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 $487,500 in 98446 versus $444,800 in 98445, with median rent of $1,991 and $1,778 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 66.8% vs 68.5%. 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.