ZIP 72136 vs ZIP 72137

This side-by-side compares ZIP 72136 (Romance, AR) and ZIP 72137 (Rose Bud, AR) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 72136 has a population of 1,772 at 13 people per square mile, while ZIP 72137 has 2,555 at 15 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 72136 reports a median household income of $78,328 against $52,612 in ZIP 72137, with per-capita income of $21,886 vs $26,447. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 8.5% in 72136 and 21.5% in 72137. Poverty rate reads 20.5% vs 19.1%, and unemployment 12.5% vs 7.6% — 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 $194,300 in 72136 versus $164,800 in 72137, with median rent of — and $861 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 76.0% vs 85.1%. 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.