ZIP 38852 vs ZIP 38827

This side-by-side compares ZIP 38852 (Iuka, MS) and ZIP 38827 (Belmont, MS) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 38852 has a population of 9,449 at 18 people per square mile, while ZIP 38827 has 2,733 at 30 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 38852 reports a median household income of $52,942 against $59,226 in ZIP 38827, with per-capita income of $34,123 vs $29,220. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 21.7% in 38852 and 11.0% in 38827. Poverty rate reads 18.5% vs 13.4%, and unemployment 4.5% vs 3.9% — 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 $150,400 in 38852 versus $142,600 in 38827, with median rent of $635 and $764 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 80.9% vs 71.1%. 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.