ZIP 69001 vs ZIP 69034

This side-by-side compares ZIP 69001 (Mc Cook, NE) and ZIP 69034 (Indianola, NE) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 69001 has a population of 9,449 at 8 people per square mile, while ZIP 69034 has 908 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 69001 reports a median household income of $62,982 against $61,058 in ZIP 69034, with per-capita income of $36,496 vs $29,291. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 26.2% in 69001 and 19.8% in 69034. Poverty rate reads 15.3% vs 12.5%, and unemployment 1.2% vs 1.9% — 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 $164,400 in 69001 versus $130,900 in 69034, with median rent of $818 and $710 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 70.6% vs 88.4%. 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.