ZIP 39159 vs ZIP 39054

This side-by-side compares ZIP 39159 (Rolling Fork, MS) and ZIP 39054 (Cary, MS) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 39159 has a population of 3,334 at 4 people per square mile, while ZIP 39054 has 341 at 33 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 39159 reports a median household income of $45,995 against — in ZIP 39054, with per-capita income of $21,373 vs $19,263. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 12.4% in 39159 and 14.2% in 39054. Poverty rate reads 24.5% vs 38.9%, and unemployment 6.2% vs 0.9% — 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 $110,700 in 39159 versus $51,400 in 39054, with median rent of $564 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 65.3% vs 71.6%. 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.