ZIP 66853 vs ZIP 66860

This side-by-side compares ZIP 66853 (Hamilton, KS) and ZIP 66860 (Madison, KS) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 66853 has a population of 429 at 1 people per square mile, while ZIP 66860 has 1,258 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 66853 reports a median household income of $51,875 against $60,531 in ZIP 66860, with per-capita income of $36,694 vs $55,234. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 18.3% in 66853 and 31.5% in 66860. Poverty rate reads 2.5% vs 10.1%, and unemployment 5.4% vs 2.3% — 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 $48,900 in 66853 versus $76,400 in 66860, with median rent of $725 and $595 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 85.8% vs 78.6%. 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.