ZIP 98524 vs ZIP 98528

This side-by-side compares ZIP 98524 (Allyn, WA) and ZIP 98528 (Belfair, WA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 98524 has a population of 3,232 at 87 people per square mile, while ZIP 98528 has 9,983 at 53 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 98524 reports a median household income of $99,483 against $91,058 in ZIP 98528, with per-capita income of $46,717 vs $40,673. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 29.6% in 98524 and 19.1% in 98528. Poverty rate reads 4.7% vs 7.9%, and unemployment 5.9% vs 6.4% — 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 $526,800 in 98524 versus $430,200 in 98528, with median rent of $2,083 and $1,216 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 94.6% vs 80.6%. 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.