ZIP 66414 vs ZIP 66546

This side-by-side compares ZIP 66414 (Carbondale, KS) and ZIP 66546 (Wakarusa, KS) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 66414 has a population of 2,914 at 19 people per square mile, while ZIP 66546 has 1,012 at 10 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 66414 reports a median household income of $74,063 against $86,607 in ZIP 66546, with per-capita income of $38,081 vs $40,517. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 17.6% in 66414 and 37.5% in 66546. Poverty rate reads 15.6% vs 3.3%, and unemployment 0.4% vs 3.4% — 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 $162,300 in 66414 versus $232,300 in 66546, with median rent of $617 and $1,288 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 83.4% vs 88.6%. 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.