ZIP 99131 vs ZIP 99167

This side-by-side compares ZIP 99131 (Gifford, WA) and ZIP 99167 (Rice, WA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 99131 has a population of 170 at 3 people per square mile, while ZIP 99167 has 625 at 4 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 99131 reports a median household income of $35,391 against $70,364 in ZIP 99167, with per-capita income of $29,332 vs $34,559. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 5.5% in 99131 and 15.8% in 99167. Poverty rate reads 15.7% vs 14.9%, and unemployment 0.0% vs 0.6% — 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 $245,800 in 99131 versus $285,000 in 99167, with median rent of — and $1,113 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 66.7% vs 91.3%. 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.