ZIP 39443 vs ZIP 39440

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