ZIP 99685 vs ZIP 99762

This side-by-side compares ZIP 99685 (Unalaska, AK) and ZIP 99762 (Nome, AK) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both, no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 99685 has a population of 4,224 at 28 people per square mile, while ZIP 99762 has 4,038 at 1 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 99685 reports a median household income of $135,759 against $113,558 in ZIP 99762, with per-capita income of $58,691 vs $44,621. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 19.1% in 99685 and 21.9% in 99762. Poverty rate reads 10.0% vs 8.7%, and unemployment 3.8% vs 9.1% - 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 $462,400 in 99685 versus $353,800 in 99762, with median rent of $2,066 and $1,634 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 34.1% vs 57.1%. 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.