ZIP 68864 vs ZIP 68816

This side-by-side compares ZIP 68864 (Palmer, NE) and ZIP 68816 (Archer, NE) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 68864 has a population of 1,027 at 2 people per square mile, while ZIP 68816 has 180 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 68864 reports a median household income of $83,365 against $61,685 in ZIP 68816, with per-capita income of $43,232 vs $33,039. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 25.9% in 68864 and 31.2% in 68816. Poverty rate reads 2.4% vs 8.0%, 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 $184,200 in 68864 versus $171,200 in 68816, with median rent of $925 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 84.3% vs 63.9%. 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.