ZIP 98516 vs ZIP 98503

This side-by-side compares ZIP 98516 (Olympia, WA) and ZIP 98503 (Lacey, WA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 98516 has a population of 20,166 at 272 people per square mile, while ZIP 98503 has 36,611 at 1,252 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 98516 reports a median household income of $98,892 against $89,002 in ZIP 98503, with per-capita income of $47,679 vs $42,685. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 39.2% in 98516 and 32.1% in 98503. Poverty rate reads 9.4% vs 10.9%, and unemployment 2.3% vs 5.5% — 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 $572,500 in 98516 versus $438,100 in 98503, with median rent of $2,068 and $1,746 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 65.6% vs 58.4%. 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.