ZIP 38829 vs ZIP 38865

This side-by-side compares ZIP 38829 (Booneville, MS) and ZIP 38865 (Rienzi, MS) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 38829 has a population of 18,707 at 27 people per square mile, while ZIP 38865 has 4,698 at 16 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 38829 reports a median household income of $51,859 against $55,380 in ZIP 38865, with per-capita income of $29,885 vs $24,589. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 21.4% in 38829 and 12.5% in 38865. Poverty rate reads 16.2% vs 16.8%, and unemployment 2.9% vs 8.1% — 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 $127,300 in 38829 versus $91,500 in 38865, with median rent of $642 and $825 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 77.5% vs 83.5%. 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.