ZIP 66502 vs ZIP 66442

This side-by-side compares ZIP 66502 (Manhattan, KS) and ZIP 66442 (Fort Riley, KS) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 66502 has a population of 43,850 at 74 people per square mile, while ZIP 66442 has 14,283 at 161 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 66502 reports a median household income of $54,833 against $51,610 in ZIP 66442, with per-capita income of $34,089 vs $24,615. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 48.0% in 66502 and 25.3% in 66442. Poverty rate reads 25.9% vs 19.3%, and unemployment 3.4% vs 4.1% — 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 $223,100 in 66502 versus — in 66442, with median rent of $949 and $1,323 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 46.0% vs 0.8%. 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.