ZIP 57242 vs ZIP 57243

This side-by-side compares ZIP 57242 (Hazel, SD) and ZIP 57243 (Henry, SD) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both, no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 57242 has a population of 432 at 2 people per square mile, while ZIP 57243 has 604 at 2 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 57242 reports a median household income of $113,958 against $48,542 in ZIP 57243, with per-capita income of $33,848 vs $35,052. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 24.3% in 57242 and 12.5% in 57243. Poverty rate reads 2.2% vs 8.6%, and unemployment 0.0% vs 1.2% - 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 $177,100 in 57242 versus $117,500 in 57243, with median rent of $681 and $1,083 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 89.2% vs 89.5%. 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.