A Washington Post analysis of elite Zip codes in the United States shows Idaho doesn’t have a so-called Super Zip. These are high-end neighborhoods where the median annual household income is $120,000 and 7 in 10 adults have a college degree.
The Post analyzed U.S. Census Bureau data and plotted their findings on this interactive map. There are 650 Super Zips in the country, with the largest concentration of wealth and education in Washington, D.C.
The map ranks the remaining 23,925 Zip codes (with a population over 500) and assigns a score for each. In order for an area to get the Super Zip distinction, it needs a score of 95 or better.
Idaho has four Zip codes that score between 80 and 87 points, but the majority of the state falls within the bottom half of the rankings, and is shaded in blue.
Here’s a closer look at Idaho’s top Zip codes:
- 83716 – 87: This is a large swath of southeast Boise where the median household income is $83,519 and 47 percent of adults have a college degree.
- 83616 – 86: This is Eagle, Idaho, where the median household income is $81,463 and 48 percent of adults have a college degree.
- 83712 – 81: This is another Zip code in southeast Boise where the median household income is $61,059 and 62 percent of adults have a college degree.
- 83340 – 81: This is Ketchum, Idaho, where the median household income is $63,071 and 59 percent of adults have a college degree.
Idaho’s closest neighboring states also don’t have Super Zips. Montana, Wyoming, eastern Oregon and eastern Washington look much like the Gem State. It’s not until you reach Salt Lake City, Seattle, and Portland that you’ll find pockets of Super Zips.
Sociologists worry further isolation or insulation of the upper class will have negative impacts on society. The Washington Post writes today’s “islands of privilege” are vastly different from earlier generations.
"People of widely different incomes and professions commonly lived close enough that they mingled at stores, sports arenas and school. In an era in which women had fewer educational and professional opportunities, lawyers married secretaries and doctors married nurses. Now, lawyers and doctors marry each other. A recent analysis of census data by sociologists Sean Reardon of Stanford and Kendra Bischoff of Cornell highlighted how middle-income neighborhoods have been fading away as more people live in areas that are either poor or affluent. In 1970, 65 percent of families lived in middle-income neighborhoods; four decades later, 42 percent did. Meanwhile, the share of families living in affluent neighborhoods doubled, from 7 percent to 15 percent, as did families living in poor neighborhoods, from 8 percent to 18 percent." - Washington Post
You can explore the Post’s interactive map, here.