ZIP 66548 vs ZIP 66933

This side-by-side compares ZIP 66548 (Waterville, KS) and ZIP 66933 (Barnes, KS) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 66548 has a population of 961 at 5 people per square mile, while ZIP 66933 has 298 at 1 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 66548 reports a median household income of $70,568 against $55,625 in ZIP 66933, with per-capita income of $31,647 vs $61,498. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 14.9% in 66548 and 15.6% in 66933. Poverty rate reads 8.8% vs 13.9%, and unemployment 0.4% vs 0.0% — 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 $89,800 in 66548 versus $85,600 in 66933, with median rent of $600 and $810 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 79.8% vs 75.4%. 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.