ZIP 68317 vs ZIP 68419

This side-by-side compares ZIP 68317 (Bennet, NE) and ZIP 68419 (Panama, NE) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 68317 has a population of 1,495 at 13 people per square mile, while ZIP 68419 has 256 at 348 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 68317 reports a median household income of $108,056 against $98,750 in ZIP 68419, with per-capita income of $47,462 vs $52,458. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 47.7% in 68317 and 12.1% in 68419. Poverty rate reads 3.7% vs 3.3%, and unemployment 0.8% vs 3.5% — 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 $294,100 in 68317 versus $206,900 in 68419, with median rent of $1,163 and $1,313 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 90.5% vs 89.4%. 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.