ZIP 39520 vs ZIP 39576

This side-by-side compares ZIP 39520 (Bay Saint Louis, MS) and ZIP 39576 (Waveland, MS) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 39520 has a population of 14,681 at 61 people per square mile, while ZIP 39576 has 5,809 at 345 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 39520 reports a median household income of $62,176 against $70,217 in ZIP 39576, with per-capita income of $45,585 vs $37,239. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 30.8% in 39520 and 25.2% in 39576. Poverty rate reads 16.5% vs 8.6%, and unemployment 7.7% vs 3.4% — 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 $225,600 in 39520 versus $230,000 in 39576, with median rent of $1,127 and $918 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 75.0% vs 59.8%. 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.