ZIP 68047 vs ZIP 68062

This side-by-side compares ZIP 68047 (Pender, NE) and ZIP 68062 (Thurston, NE) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 68047 has a population of 1,614 at 5 people per square mile, while ZIP 68062 has 311 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 68047 reports a median household income of $87,375 against $72,292 in ZIP 68062, with per-capita income of $37,452 vs $39,184. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 30.8% in 68047 and 30.2% in 68062. Poverty rate reads 7.6% vs 2.6%, and unemployment 3.5% vs 1.4% — 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 $217,000 in 68047 versus $131,300 in 68062, with median rent of $877 and $663 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 79.6% vs 82.2%. 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.