ZIP 63882 vs ZIP 63834

This side-by-side compares ZIP 63882 (Wyatt, MO) and ZIP 63834 (Charleston, MO) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 63882 has a population of 431 at 366 people per square mile, while ZIP 63834 has 7,135 at 11 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 63882 reports a median household income of $30,227 against $41,348 in ZIP 63834, with per-capita income of $15,161 vs $20,307. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 5.9% in 63882 and 11.1% in 63834. Poverty rate reads 50.9% vs 22.1%, and unemployment 9.2% vs 4.3% — 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 $57,100 in 63882 versus $114,000 in 63834, with median rent of $594 and $770 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 75.8% vs 54.2%. 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.