ZIP 39553 vs ZIP 39564

This side-by-side compares ZIP 39553 (Gautier, MS) and ZIP 39564 (Ocean Springs, MS) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 39553 has a population of 17,174 at 251 people per square mile, while ZIP 39564 has 36,952 at 269 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 39553 reports a median household income of $57,460 against $78,596 in ZIP 39564, with per-capita income of $34,131 vs $41,542. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 21.6% in 39553 and 41.0% in 39564. Poverty rate reads 17.7% vs 6.3%, and unemployment 4.0% vs 5.7% — 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 $165,600 in 39553 versus $235,600 in 39564, with median rent of $994 and $1,370 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 71.6% vs 72.2%. 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.