ZIP 98605 vs ZIP 98651

This side-by-side compares ZIP 98605 (Bingen, WA) and ZIP 98651 (Underwood, WA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both, no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 98605 has a population of 1,225 at 11 people per square mile, while ZIP 98651 has 939 at 20 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 98605 reports a median household income of $72,917 against $90,000 in ZIP 98651, with per-capita income of $38,491 vs $67,750. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 23.7% in 98605 and 36.9% in 98651. Poverty rate reads 10.4% vs 3.7%, and unemployment 3.8% vs 3.0% - 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 $421,700 in 98605 versus $730,700 in 98651, with median rent of $1,270 and $1,035 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 71.1% vs 87.4%. 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.