ZIP 98660 vs ZIP 98685

This side-by-side compares ZIP 98660 (Vancouver, WA) and ZIP 98685 (Vancouver, WA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 98660 has a population of 11,858 at 307 people per square mile, while ZIP 98685 has 26,217 at 1,040 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 98660 reports a median household income of $67,344 against $130,972 in ZIP 98685, with per-capita income of $55,925 vs $62,126. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 42.2% in 98660 and 42.2% in 98685. Poverty rate reads 16.9% vs 3.3%, and unemployment 5.3% vs 3.8% — 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 $469,600 in 98660 versus $599,200 in 98685, with median rent of $1,545 and $1,664 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 38.2% vs 84.8%. 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.