ZIP 72417 vs ZIP 72401

This side-by-side compares ZIP 72417 (Brookland, AR) and ZIP 72401 (Jonesboro, AR) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 72417 has a population of 3,568 at 30 people per square mile, while ZIP 72401 has 53,767 at 177 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 72417 reports a median household income of $61,964 against $45,329 in ZIP 72401, with per-capita income of $29,811 vs $27,009. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 21.3% in 72417 and 24.0% in 72401. Poverty rate reads 12.5% vs 30.7%, and unemployment 4.6% vs 7.7% — 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 $173,700 in 72417 versus $188,600 in 72401, with median rent of $1,008 and $923 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 62.4% vs 48.9%. 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.