ZIP 39401 vs ZIP 39465

This side-by-side compares ZIP 39401 (Hattiesburg, MS) and ZIP 39465 (Petal, MS) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 39401 has a population of 43,366 at 87 people per square mile, while ZIP 39465 has 21,386 at 63 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 39401 reports a median household income of $41,127 against $74,035 in ZIP 39465, with per-capita income of $26,416 vs $32,508. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 29.4% in 39401 and 24.0% in 39465. Poverty rate reads 31.1% vs 10.4%, and unemployment 9.0% vs 2.8% — 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 $134,300 in 39401 versus $185,700 in 39465, with median rent of $948 and $1,001 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 43.6% vs 77.3%. 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.