ZIP 99504 vs ZIP 99508

This side-by-side compares ZIP 99504 (Anchorage, AK) and ZIP 99508 (Anchorage, AK) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 99504 has a population of 40,914 at 2,480 people per square mile, while ZIP 99508 has 35,857 at 1,995 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 99504 reports a median household income of $86,710 against $79,314 in ZIP 99508, with per-capita income of $42,046 vs $36,310. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 31.5% in 99504 and 28.8% in 99508. Poverty rate reads 7.6% vs 18.3%, and unemployment 5.8% vs 6.3% — 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 $314,000 in 99504 versus $335,300 in 99508, with median rent of $1,573 and $1,370 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 66.1% vs 53.2%. 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.