ZIP 66851 vs ZIP 66861

This side-by-side compares ZIP 66851 (Florence, KS) and ZIP 66861 (Marion, KS) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 66851 has a population of 583 at 3 people per square mile, while ZIP 66861 has 3,204 at 6 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 66851 reports a median household income of $48,162 against $60,565 in ZIP 66861, with per-capita income of $28,896 vs $36,716. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 19.6% in 66851 and 31.1% in 66861. Poverty rate reads 20.0% vs 9.2%, and unemployment 3.4% vs 1.0% — 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 $63,400 in 66851 versus $150,300 in 66861, with median rent of $832 and $649 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 67.4% vs 82.8%. 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.