ZIP 64830 vs ZIP 64857

This side-by-side compares ZIP 64830 (Alba, MO) and ZIP 64857 (Purcell, MO) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 64830 has a population of 639 at 174 people per square mile, while ZIP 64857 has 424 at 272 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 64830 reports a median household income of $51,510 against — in ZIP 64857, with per-capita income of $22,087 vs $21,095. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 13.3% in 64830 and 17.8% in 64857. Poverty rate reads 32.4% vs 35.6%, and unemployment 0.8% vs 2.9% — 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 $83,200 in 64830 versus $87,600 in 64857, with median rent of $865 and $870 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 67.7% vs 81.3%. 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.