ZIP 32043 vs ZIP 32079

This side-by-side compares ZIP 32043 (Green Cove Springs, FL) and ZIP 32079 (Penney Farms, FL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 32043 has a population of 24,632 at 47 people per square mile, while ZIP 32079 has 433 at 336 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 32043 reports a median household income of $84,145 against $41,094 in ZIP 32079, with per-capita income of $40,400 vs $31,075. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 29.1% in 32043 and 46.3% in 32079. Poverty rate reads 7.5% vs 12.8%, and unemployment 3.3% vs 0.0% — 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 $337,900 in 32043 versus — in 32079, with median rent of $1,545 and $1,837 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 78.7% vs 0.0%. 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.