ZIP 38685 vs ZIP 38601

This side-by-side compares ZIP 38685 (Waterford, MS) and ZIP 38601 (Abbeville, MS) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 38685 has a population of 1,347 at 6 people per square mile, while ZIP 38601 has 2,371 at 10 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 38685 reports a median household income of $41,210 against $47,941 in ZIP 38601, with per-capita income of $37,978 vs $22,923. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 3.8% in 38685 and 18.9% in 38601. Poverty rate reads 19.4% vs 12.5%, and unemployment 6.2% vs 0.8% — 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 $124,100 in 38685 versus $190,000 in 38601, with median rent of — and $822 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 95.1% vs 83.4%. 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.