ZIP 40117 vs ZIP 40142

This side-by-side compares ZIP 40117 (Ekron, KY) and ZIP 40142 (Guston, KY) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 40117 has a population of 2,299 at 47 people per square mile, while ZIP 40142 has 2,304 at 18 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 40117 reports a median household income of $58,696 against $81,037 in ZIP 40142, with per-capita income of $34,324 vs $30,643. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 15.5% in 40117 and 10.0% in 40142. Poverty rate reads 12.8% vs 4.5%, and unemployment 2.9% 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 $196,700 in 40117 versus $166,100 in 40142, with median rent of $929 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 90.9% vs 82.2%. 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.