ZIP 39828 vs ZIP 39897

This side-by-side compares ZIP 39828 (Cairo, GA) and ZIP 39897 (Whigham, GA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 39828 has a population of 15,150 at 42 people per square mile, while ZIP 39897 has 3,430 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 39828 reports a median household income of $53,901 against $54,639 in ZIP 39897, with per-capita income of $26,051 vs $34,824. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 14.4% in 39828 and 16.0% in 39897. Poverty rate reads 24.5% vs 10.1%, and unemployment 3.8% vs 1.3% — 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 $137,800 in 39828 versus $141,500 in 39897, with median rent of $776 and $698 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 60.3% vs 76.5%. 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.