ZIP 98596 vs ZIP 98565

This side-by-side compares ZIP 98596 (Winlock, WA) and ZIP 98565 (Napavine, WA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 98596 has a population of 6,524 at 28 people per square mile, while ZIP 98565 has 618 at 385 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 98596 reports a median household income of $80,188 against $73,750 in ZIP 98565, with per-capita income of $38,697 vs $29,726. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 20.6% in 98596 and 12.9% in 98565. Poverty rate reads 9.2% vs 13.6%, and unemployment 7.1% vs 9.8% — 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 $415,600 in 98596 versus $298,900 in 98565, with median rent of $1,224 and $1,650 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 85.9% vs 85.2%. 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.