ZIP 42442 vs ZIP 42440

This side-by-side compares ZIP 42442 (Nortonville, KY) and ZIP 42440 (Mortons Gap, KY) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 42442 has a population of 3,504 at 22 people per square mile, while ZIP 42440 has 748 at 289 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 42442 reports a median household income of $58,190 against — in ZIP 42440, with per-capita income of $27,788 vs $21,267. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 14.8% in 42442 and 5.8% in 42440. Poverty rate reads 12.0% vs 24.6%, and unemployment 7.0% 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 $124,500 in 42442 versus $96,800 in 42440, with median rent of $838 and $675 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 76.6% vs 83.2%. 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.