ZIP 71602 vs ZIP 72079

This side-by-side compares ZIP 71602 (White Hall, AR) and ZIP 72079 (Jefferson, AR) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 71602 has a population of 17,982 at 60 people per square mile, while ZIP 72079 has 786 at 13 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 71602 reports a median household income of $55,204 against $69,479 in ZIP 72079, with per-capita income of $31,583 vs $46,585. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 23.0% in 71602 and 1.7% in 72079. Poverty rate reads 17.6% vs 0.0%, and unemployment 6.9% 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 $157,100 in 71602 versus $163,900 in 72079, with median rent of $937 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 59.2% vs 93.9%. 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.