ZIP 63601 vs ZIP 63653

This side-by-side compares ZIP 63601 (Park Hills, MO) and ZIP 63653 (Leadwood, MO) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 63601 has a population of 16,656 at 114 people per square mile, while ZIP 63653 has 1,206 at 322 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 63601 reports a median household income of $54,753 against $38,021 in ZIP 63653, with per-capita income of $27,574 vs $17,384. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 14.3% in 63601 and 5.2% in 63653. Poverty rate reads 16.4% vs 39.7%, and unemployment 5.7% vs 3.2% — 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 $126,300 in 63601 versus $53,900 in 63653, with median rent of $768 and $896 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 65.5% vs 69.2%. 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.