ZIP 98611 vs ZIP 98645

This side-by-side compares ZIP 98611 (Castle Rock, WA) and ZIP 98645 (Silverlake, WA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 98611 has a population of 9,133 at 28 people per square mile, while ZIP 98645 has 1,429 at 37 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 98611 reports a median household income of $86,322 against $101,429 in ZIP 98645, with per-capita income of $37,729 vs $50,854. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 14.9% in 98611 and 37.5% in 98645. Poverty rate reads 8.5% vs 9.7%, and unemployment 4.7% vs 5.1% — 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 $425,700 in 98611 versus $509,500 in 98645, with median rent of $1,250 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 83.8% vs 95.7%. 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.