ZIP 57349 vs ZIP 57323

This side-by-side compares ZIP 57349 (Howard, SD) and ZIP 57323 (Carthage, SD) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both, no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 57349 has a population of 1,493 at 3 people per square mile, while ZIP 57323 has 215 at 1 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 57349 reports a median household income of $75,179 against $51,250 in ZIP 57323, with per-capita income of $53,182 vs $43,037. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 13.7% in 57349 and 34.2% in 57323. Poverty rate reads 12.6% vs 16.7%, and unemployment 0.4% 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 $153,000 in 57349 versus $70,000 in 57323, with median rent of $603 and - per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 82.5% vs 87.8%. 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.