ZIP 39305 vs ZIP 39342

This side-by-side compares ZIP 39305 (Meridian, MS) and ZIP 39342 (Marion, MS) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 39305 has a population of 20,431 at 72 people per square mile, while ZIP 39342 has 1,287 at 201 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 39305 reports a median household income of $67,712 against $45,298 in ZIP 39342, with per-capita income of $36,356 vs $21,597. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 36.4% in 39305 and 24.5% in 39342. Poverty rate reads 24.0% vs 23.5%, and unemployment 6.9% vs 7.8% — 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 $172,400 in 39305 versus $187,300 in 39342, with median rent of $1,155 and $1,074 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 68.1% vs 50.2%. 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.