ZIP 66531 vs ZIP 66449

This side-by-side compares ZIP 66531 (Riley, KS) and ZIP 66449 (Leonardville, KS) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 66531 has a population of 1,380 at 14 people per square mile, while ZIP 66449 has 846 at 5 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 66531 reports a median household income of $79,063 against $90,089 in ZIP 66449, with per-capita income of $37,316 vs $42,994. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 31.4% in 66531 and 24.8% in 66449. Poverty rate reads 3.7% vs 4.6%, and unemployment 2.0% vs 1.1% — 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 $188,000 in 66531 versus $210,200 in 66449, with median rent of $1,203 and $946 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 93.0% vs 87.8%. 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.