ZIP 38850 vs ZIP 38851

This side-by-side compares ZIP 38850 (Houlka, MS) and ZIP 38851 (Houston, MS) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 38850 has a population of 3,141 at 10 people per square mile, while ZIP 38851 has 8,408 at 15 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 38850 reports a median household income of $52,807 against $45,365 in ZIP 38851, with per-capita income of $26,409 vs $24,569. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 11.4% in 38850 and 15.6% in 38851. Poverty rate reads 23.0% vs 19.7%, and unemployment 2.5% vs 3.1% — 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 $84,700 in 38850 versus $142,900 in 38851, with median rent of $655 and $701 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 84.8% vs 72.7%. 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.