ZIP 98644 vs ZIP 98631

This side-by-side compares ZIP 98644 (Seaview, WA) and ZIP 98631 (Long Beach, WA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 98644 has a population of 473 at 259 people per square mile, while ZIP 98631 has 3,243 at 81 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 98644 reports a median household income of $48,333 against $71,705 in ZIP 98631, with per-capita income of $50,972 vs $57,076. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 50.1% in 98644 and 31.7% in 98631. Poverty rate reads 13.9% vs 9.6%, and unemployment 0.0% vs 7.0% — 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 $285,700 in 98644 versus $409,400 in 98631, with median rent of — and $765 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 83.8% vs 76.6%. 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.