ZIP 66217 vs ZIP 66218

This side-by-side compares ZIP 66217 (Shawnee, KS) and ZIP 66218 (Shawnee, KS) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 66217 has a population of 5,319 at 219 people per square mile, while ZIP 66218 has 7,754 at 333 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 66217 reports a median household income of $93,651 against $168,878 in ZIP 66218, with per-capita income of $68,308 vs $62,743. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 60.0% in 66217 and 57.2% in 66218. Poverty rate reads 4.2% vs 2.1%, and unemployment 1.1% vs 2.6% — 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 $456,400 in 66217 versus $436,600 in 66218, with median rent of $1,379 and $1,733 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 53.3% vs 89.2%. 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.