ZIP 66451 vs ZIP 66543

This side-by-side compares ZIP 66451 (Lyndon, KS) and ZIP 66543 (Vassar, KS) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 66451 has a population of 1,793 at 8 people per square mile, while ZIP 66543 has 725 at 32 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 66451 reports a median household income of $76,908 against $75,288 in ZIP 66543, with per-capita income of $36,205 vs $38,860. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 26.1% in 66451 and 19.4% in 66543. Poverty rate reads 11.9% vs 5.4%, and unemployment 0.0% 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 $158,500 in 66451 versus $172,200 in 66543, with median rent of $742 and $1,167 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 81.4% vs 88.8%. 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.