ZIP 38859 vs ZIP 38856

This side-by-side compares ZIP 38859 (New Site, MS) and ZIP 38856 (Marietta, MS) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 38859 has a population of 749 at 7 people per square mile, while ZIP 38856 has 1,788 at 11 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 38859 reports a median household income of $41,389 against $66,686 in ZIP 38856, with per-capita income of $21,662 vs $44,907. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 1.8% in 38859 and 20.9% in 38856. Poverty rate reads 1.7% vs 10.2%, and unemployment 7.6% vs 0.6% — 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 $136,200 in 38859 versus $135,700 in 38856, with median rent of — and $530 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 93.1% vs 91.4%. 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.