ZIP 68381 vs ZIP 68309

This side-by-side compares ZIP 68381 (Liberty, NE) and ZIP 68309 (Barneston, NE) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 68381 has a population of 249 at 2 people per square mile, while ZIP 68309 has 121 at 26 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 68381 reports a median household income of $74,583 against $49,583 in ZIP 68309, with per-capita income of $47,613 vs $24,417. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 30.5% in 68381 and 1.0% in 68309. Poverty rate reads 15.1% vs 11.1%, and unemployment 0.0% vs 0.0% — 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 — in 68381 versus — in 68309, with median rent of — and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 68.9% vs 91.5%. 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.