ZIP 39656 vs ZIP 39427

This side-by-side compares ZIP 39656 (Oak Vale, MS) and ZIP 39427 (Carson, MS) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 39656 has a population of 803 at 7 people per square mile, while ZIP 39427 has 1,314 at 9 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 39656 reports a median household income of $41,786 against $31,860 in ZIP 39427, with per-capita income of $20,018 vs $24,124. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 4.5% in 39656 and 3.4% in 39427. Poverty rate reads 23.6% vs 37.9%, and unemployment 0.0% vs 0.0% — 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 $155,500 in 39656 versus $52,200 in 39427, with median rent of — and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 85.5% vs 89.9%. 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.