ZIP 66050 vs ZIP 66542

This side-by-side compares ZIP 66050 (Lecompton, KS) and ZIP 66542 (Tecumseh, KS) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 66050 has a population of 1,822 at 16 people per square mile, while ZIP 66542 has 3,335 at 40 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 66050 reports a median household income of $91,979 against $108,218 in ZIP 66542, with per-capita income of $47,622 vs $59,306. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 30.1% in 66050 and 45.0% in 66542. Poverty rate reads 8.7% vs 4.1%, and unemployment 1.7% vs 1.3% — 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 $263,200 in 66050 versus $234,700 in 66542, with median rent of $913 and $1,118 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 82.4% vs 85.9%. 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.