ZIP 71422 vs ZIP 71251

This side-by-side compares ZIP 71422 (Dodson, LA) and ZIP 71251 (Jonesboro, LA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both, no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 71422 has a population of 1,542 at 4 people per square mile, while ZIP 71251 has 9,051 at 19 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 71422 reports a median household income of $36,111 against $40,128 in ZIP 71251, with per-capita income of $29,266 vs $25,837. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 11.2% in 71422 and 14.5% in 71251. Poverty rate reads 13.6% vs 24.8%, and unemployment 0.7% vs 10.1% - 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 $108,500 in 71422 versus $104,100 in 71251, with median rent of $840 and $751 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 73.9% vs 60.6%. 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.