ZIP 68436 vs ZIP 68452

This side-by-side compares ZIP 68436 (Shickley, NE) and ZIP 68452 (Ong, NE) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 68436 has a population of 581 at 2 people per square mile, while ZIP 68452 has 86 at 2 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 68436 reports a median household income of $72,969 against $63,000 in ZIP 68452, with per-capita income of $42,598 vs $35,981. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 30.4% in 68436 and 9.1% in 68452. Poverty rate reads 13.1% vs 19.4%, 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 $157,900 in 68436 versus — in 68452, with median rent of $850 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 86.2% vs 86.1%. 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.