ZIP 72436 vs ZIP 72443

This side-by-side compares ZIP 72436 (Lafe, AR) and ZIP 72443 (Marmaduke, AR) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 72436 has a population of 942 at 13 people per square mile, while ZIP 72443 has 2,986 at 20 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 72436 reports a median household income of $52,174 against $51,230 in ZIP 72443, with per-capita income of $30,856 vs $26,943. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 14.2% in 72436 and 14.3% in 72443. Poverty rate reads 15.5% vs 20.6%, and unemployment 1.8% vs 3.4% — 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 $114,700 in 72436 versus $106,900 in 72443, with median rent of $725 and $760 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 88.0% vs 69.2%. 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.