ZIP 38821 vs ZIP 38870

This side-by-side compares ZIP 38821 (Amory, MS) and ZIP 38870 (Smithville, MS) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 38821 has a population of 12,528 at 34 people per square mile, while ZIP 38870 has 3,122 at 19 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 38821 reports a median household income of $58,834 against $70,667 in ZIP 38870, with per-capita income of $31,943 vs $40,350. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 20.4% in 38821 and 25.4% in 38870. Poverty rate reads 13.2% vs 9.2%, and unemployment 4.8% vs 1.7% — 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 $179,100 in 38821 versus $138,600 in 38870, with median rent of $814 and $819 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 75.4% vs 89.2%. 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.