ZIP 99217 vs ZIP 99216

This side-by-side compares ZIP 99217 (Spokane, WA) and ZIP 99216 (Spokane, WA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 99217 has a population of 17,423 at 132 people per square mile, while ZIP 99216 has 24,362 at 704 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 99217 reports a median household income of $73,620 against $74,278 in ZIP 99216, with per-capita income of $38,408 vs $36,429. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 23.0% in 99217 and 24.1% in 99216. Poverty rate reads 11.4% vs 14.2%, and unemployment 5.5% vs 4.8% — 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 $377,400 in 99217 versus $373,200 in 99216, with median rent of $1,413 and $1,461 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 64.5% vs 47.0%. 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.