ZIP 68064 vs ZIP 68069

This side-by-side compares ZIP 68064 (Valley, NE) and ZIP 68069 (Waterloo, NE) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 68064 has a population of 3,376 at 27 people per square mile, while ZIP 68069 has 2,558 at 34 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 68064 reports a median household income of $100,450 against $111,974 in ZIP 68069, with per-capita income of $65,635 vs $78,248. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 44.5% in 68064 and 40.5% in 68069. Poverty rate reads 6.1% vs 3.8%, and unemployment 2.5% vs 8.4% — 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 $407,700 in 68064 versus $365,100 in 68069, with median rent of $1,029 and $1,382 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 73.4% vs 83.9%. 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.