ZIP 72082 vs ZIP 72143

This side-by-side compares ZIP 72082 (Kensett, AR) and ZIP 72143 (Searcy, AR) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 72082 has a population of 1,935 at 141 people per square mile, while ZIP 72143 has 35,169 at 45 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 72082 reports a median household income of $31,638 against $58,344 in ZIP 72143, with per-capita income of $19,079 vs $30,086. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 3.7% in 72082 and 27.7% in 72143. Poverty rate reads 27.8% vs 17.9%, and unemployment 5.1% vs 5.3% — 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 $91,000 in 72082 versus $181,300 in 72143, with median rent of $744 and $904 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 41.3% vs 65.0%. 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.