ZIP 72521 vs ZIP 72532

This side-by-side compares ZIP 72521 (Cave City, AR) and ZIP 72532 (Evening Shade, AR) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 72521 has a population of 4,814 at 15 people per square mile, while ZIP 72532 has 1,712 at 6 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 72521 reports a median household income of $59,591 against $38,750 in ZIP 72532, with per-capita income of $26,947 vs $20,752. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 14.1% in 72521 and 10.3% in 72532. Poverty rate reads 15.2% vs 9.3%, and unemployment 3.6% vs 2.2% — 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 $146,800 in 72521 versus $113,100 in 72532, with median rent of $788 and $829 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 68.4% vs 91.7%. 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.