ZIP 38860 vs ZIP 38868

This side-by-side compares ZIP 38860 (Okolona, MS) and ZIP 38868 (Shannon, MS) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 38860 has a population of 5,663 at 17 people per square mile, while ZIP 38868 has 5,481 at 29 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 38860 reports a median household income of $41,293 against $41,030 in ZIP 38868, with per-capita income of $22,263 vs $27,084. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 8.1% in 38860 and 22.4% in 38868. Poverty rate reads 26.1% vs 27.1%, and unemployment 7.9% vs 7.0% — 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 $100,400 in 38860 versus $142,300 in 38868, with median rent of $605 and $894 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 64.2% vs 74.0%. 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.