ZIP 66040 vs ZIP 66026

This side-by-side compares ZIP 66040 (La Cygne, KS) and ZIP 66026 (Fontana, KS) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 66040 has a population of 3,404 at 9 people per square mile, while ZIP 66026 has 698 at 7 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 66040 reports a median household income of $56,323 against $77,857 in ZIP 66026, with per-capita income of $32,180 vs $33,422. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 19.6% in 66040 and 10.7% in 66026. Poverty rate reads 7.7% vs 23.0%, and unemployment 3.8% vs 6.2% — 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 $174,300 in 66040 versus $201,100 in 66026, with median rent of $868 and $1,600 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 86.1% vs 80.4%. 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.