ZIP 67579 vs ZIP 67512

This side-by-side compares ZIP 67579 (Sterling, KS) and ZIP 67512 (Alden, KS) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 67579 has a population of 3,095 at 5 people per square mile, while ZIP 67512 has 234 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 67579 reports a median household income of $65,294 against $95,000 in ZIP 67512, with per-capita income of $34,462 vs $41,213. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 37.6% in 67579 and 32.1% in 67512. Poverty rate reads 6.0% vs 16.7%, and unemployment 1.8% vs 6.0% — 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 $158,000 in 67579 versus $66,000 in 67512, with median rent of $693 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 80.6% vs 90.3%. 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.