ZIP 98538 vs ZIP 98581

This side-by-side compares ZIP 98538 (Curtis, WA) and ZIP 98581 (Ryderwood, WA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 98538 has a population of 304 at 1 people per square mile, while ZIP 98581 has 424 at 6 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 98538 reports a median household income of $105,000 against $43,009 in ZIP 98581, with per-capita income of $56,343 vs $32,853. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 9.0% in 98538 and 15.8% in 98581. Poverty rate reads 10.2% vs 11.2%, and unemployment 2.3% vs 0.0% — 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 $482,100 in 98538 versus $232,500 in 98581, with median rent of — and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 84.9% vs 95.6%. 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.