ZIP 98685 vs ZIP 98665

This side-by-side compares ZIP 98685 (Vancouver, WA) and ZIP 98665 (Vancouver, WA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 98685 has a population of 26,217 at 1,040 people per square mile, while ZIP 98665 has 24,057 at 1,153 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 98685 reports a median household income of $130,972 against $88,559 in ZIP 98665, with per-capita income of $62,126 vs $43,174. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 42.2% in 98685 and 29.3% in 98665. Poverty rate reads 3.3% vs 8.8%, and unemployment 3.8% vs 7.3% — 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 $599,200 in 98685 versus $476,200 in 98665, with median rent of $1,664 and $1,763 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 84.8% vs 58.0%. 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.