ZIP 98589 vs ZIP 98530

This side-by-side compares ZIP 98589 (Tenino, WA) and ZIP 98530 (Bucoda, WA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 98589 has a population of 7,320 at 31 people per square mile, while ZIP 98530 has 565 at 44 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 98589 reports a median household income of $83,855 against $80,682 in ZIP 98530, with per-capita income of $42,724 vs $31,722. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 27.4% in 98589 and 17.2% in 98530. Poverty rate reads 9.8% vs 25.5%, and unemployment 5.5% vs 8.3% — 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 $438,700 in 98589 versus $335,300 in 98530, with median rent of $1,419 and $1,338 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 82.2% vs 79.3%. 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.