ZIP 66834 vs ZIP 66401

This side-by-side compares ZIP 66834 (Alta Vista, KS) and ZIP 66401 (Alma, KS) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 66834 has a population of 848 at 2 people per square mile, while ZIP 66401 has 1,721 at 3 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 66834 reports a median household income of $60,208 against $73,516 in ZIP 66401, with per-capita income of $29,718 vs $44,475. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 14.9% in 66834 and 26.8% in 66401. Poverty rate reads 14.5% vs 5.5%, and unemployment 9.8% vs 1.7% — 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 $124,200 in 66834 versus $220,900 in 66401, with median rent of $798 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 75.1% vs 72.8%. 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.