ZIP 68439 vs ZIP 68669

This side-by-side compares ZIP 68439 (Staplehurst, NE) and ZIP 68669 (Ulysses, NE) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 68439 has a population of 478 at 5 people per square mile, while ZIP 68669 has 422 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 68439 reports a median household income of $82,759 against $86,397 in ZIP 68669, with per-capita income of $38,532 vs $74,830. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 27.5% in 68439 and 17.5% in 68669. Poverty rate reads 13.5% vs 9.1%, and unemployment 1.7% vs 7.0% — 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 $180,900 in 68439 versus $122,500 in 68669, with median rent of $688 and $1,563 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 92.7% vs 91.0%. 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.