ZIP 63879 vs ZIP 63878

This side-by-side compares ZIP 63879 (Wardell, MO) and ZIP 63878 (Tallapoosa, MO) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 63879 has a population of 773 at 13 people per square mile, while ZIP 63878 has 138 at 99 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 63879 reports a median household income of $41,083 against — in ZIP 63878, with per-capita income of $27,439 vs $20,533. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 14.0% in 63879 and 0.0% in 63878. Poverty rate reads 35.3% vs 23.9%, and unemployment 5.5% 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 $56,800 in 63879 versus $61,100 in 63878, with median rent of $469 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 82.2% vs 68.8%. 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.