ZIP 68873 vs ZIP 68831

This side-by-side compares ZIP 68873 (Saint Paul, NE) and ZIP 68831 (Dannebrog, NE) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 68873 has a population of 3,289 at 7 people per square mile, while ZIP 68831 has 812 at 5 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 68873 reports a median household income of $75,000 against $68,977 in ZIP 68831, with per-capita income of $36,297 vs $36,275. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 28.1% in 68873 and 20.4% in 68831. Poverty rate reads 3.1% vs 10.7%, and unemployment 4.4% vs 0.3% — 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 $214,800 in 68873 versus $201,900 in 68831, with median rent of $716 and $950 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 76.7% vs 79.4%. 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.