ZIP 34602 vs ZIP 33523

This side-by-side compares ZIP 34602 (Brooksville, FL) and ZIP 33523 (Dade City, FL) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 34602 has a population of 7,346 at 43 people per square mile, while ZIP 33523 has 18,313 at 60 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 34602 reports a median household income of $77,215 against $64,826 in ZIP 33523, with per-capita income of $33,448 vs $34,423. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 22.4% in 34602 and 22.7% in 33523. Poverty rate reads 6.6% vs 11.6%, and unemployment 3.8% vs 10.9% — 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 $276,400 in 34602 versus $244,400 in 33523, with median rent of $1,322 and $1,101 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 87.1% vs 76.9%. 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.