ZIP 63736 vs ZIP 63824

This side-by-side compares ZIP 63736 (Benton, MO) and ZIP 63824 (Blodgett, MO) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 63736 has a population of 3,310 at 19 people per square mile, while ZIP 63824 has 164 at 707 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 63736 reports a median household income of $59,414 against $38,333 in ZIP 63824, with per-capita income of $32,499 vs $21,164. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 22.9% in 63736 and 7.1% in 63824. Poverty rate reads 16.8% vs 21.6%, and unemployment 1.2% vs 5.1% — 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 $168,700 in 63736 versus — in 63824, with median rent of $990 and $1,032 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 77.4% vs 39.7%. 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.