ZIP 65284 vs ZIP 65243

This side-by-side compares ZIP 65284 (Sturgeon, MO) and ZIP 65243 (Clark, MO) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 65284 has a population of 2,361 at 14 people per square mile, while ZIP 65243 has 2,806 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 65284 reports a median household income of $97,434 against $68,021 in ZIP 65243, with per-capita income of $40,428 vs $28,237. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 29.2% in 65284 and 23.7% in 65243. Poverty rate reads 1.8% vs 31.4%, and unemployment 0.5% vs 1.0% — 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 $216,500 in 65284 versus $208,200 in 65243, with median rent of $856 and $816 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 78.5% vs 83.5%. 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.