ZIP 98648 vs ZIP 98610

This side-by-side compares ZIP 98648 (Stevenson, WA) and ZIP 98610 (Carson, WA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both, no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 98648 has a population of 3,100 at 10 people per square mile, while ZIP 98610 has 2,871 at 3 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 98648 reports a median household income of $96,696 against $72,773 in ZIP 98610, with per-capita income of $47,574 vs $36,885. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 36.5% in 98648 and 16.6% in 98610. Poverty rate reads 8.1% vs 8.8%, and unemployment 4.7% vs 7.7% - 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 $555,500 in 98648 versus $501,600 in 98610, with median rent of $949 and $910 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 80.1% vs 77.1%. 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.