ZIP 39730 vs ZIP 38821

This side-by-side compares ZIP 39730 (Aberdeen, MS) and ZIP 38821 (Amory, MS) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 39730 has a population of 11,805 at 18 people per square mile, while ZIP 38821 has 12,528 at 34 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 39730 reports a median household income of $43,336 against $58,834 in ZIP 38821, with per-capita income of $26,399 vs $31,943. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 12.2% in 39730 and 20.4% in 38821. Poverty rate reads 24.8% vs 13.2%, and unemployment 7.1% vs 4.8% — 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 $93,500 in 39730 versus $179,100 in 38821, with median rent of $728 and $814 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 70.6% vs 75.4%. 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.