ZIP 64161 vs ZIP 64054

This side-by-side compares ZIP 64161 (Kansas City, MO) and ZIP 64054 (Independence, MO) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 64161 has a population of 388 at 9 people per square mile, while ZIP 64054 has 3,731 at 715 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 64161 reports a median household income of $53,333 against $59,719 in ZIP 64054, with per-capita income of $31,254 vs $30,798. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 13.7% in 64161 and 21.1% in 64054. Poverty rate reads 25.7% vs 13.2%, and unemployment 8.4% vs 4.2% — 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 $144,000 in 64161 versus $117,600 in 64054, with median rent of $1,313 and $1,245 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 75.0% vs 70.8%. 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.