ZIP 99021 vs ZIP 99025

This side-by-side compares ZIP 99021 (Mead, WA) and ZIP 99025 (Newman Lake, WA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 99021 has a population of 9,174 at 42 people per square mile, while ZIP 99025 has 5,232 at 45 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 99021 reports a median household income of $85,489 against $118,712 in ZIP 99025, with per-capita income of $41,053 vs $48,061. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 31.7% in 99021 and 27.2% in 99025. Poverty rate reads 6.5% vs 2.6%, and unemployment 7.8% vs 0.5% — 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 $465,400 in 99021 versus $517,100 in 99025, with median rent of $1,415 and $1,338 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 93.8% vs 93.8%. 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.