ZIP 40906 vs ZIP 40734

This side-by-side compares ZIP 40906 (Barbourville, KY) and ZIP 40734 (Gray, KY) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 40906 has a population of 11,132 at 35 people per square mile, while ZIP 40734 has 3,764 at 36 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 40906 reports a median household income of $23,375 against $42,500 in ZIP 40734, with per-capita income of $19,550 vs $19,428. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 20.4% in 40906 and 7.7% in 40734. Poverty rate reads 42.1% vs 32.6%, and unemployment 10.8% vs 6.7% — 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 $129,100 in 40906 versus $131,700 in 40734, with median rent of $693 and $697 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 63.7% 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.