ZIP 39440 vs ZIP 39443

This side-by-side compares ZIP 39440 (Laurel, MS) and ZIP 39443 (Laurel, MS) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 39440 has a population of 21,305 at 416 people per square mile, while ZIP 39443 has 21,939 at 32 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 39440 reports a median household income of $46,947 against $59,388 in ZIP 39443, with per-capita income of $29,756 vs $30,128. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 20.4% in 39440 and 19.3% in 39443. Poverty rate reads 25.9% vs 13.7%, and unemployment 5.2% vs 3.8% — 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 $125,400 in 39440 versus $153,500 in 39443, with median rent of $917 and $763 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 58.3% vs 81.2%. 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.