ZIP 72561 vs ZIP 72526

This side-by-side compares ZIP 72561 (Mount Pleasant, AR) and ZIP 72526 (Cushman, AR) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 72561 has a population of 981 at 7 people per square mile, while ZIP 72526 has 154 at 11 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 72561 reports a median household income of $71,916 against $63,333 in ZIP 72526, with per-capita income of $29,030 vs $31,132. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 28.5% in 72561 and 3.3% in 72526. Poverty rate reads 16.9% vs 17.7%, and unemployment 0.5% vs 0.0% — 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 $265,600 in 72561 versus $127,000 in 72526, with median rent of $494 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 89.3% vs 75.0%. 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.