ZIP 72611 vs ZIP 72638

This side-by-side compares ZIP 72611 (Alpena, AR) and ZIP 72638 (Green Forest, AR) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 72611 has a population of 1,696 at 9 people per square mile, while ZIP 72638 has 7,186 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 72611 reports a median household income of $42,361 against $65,175 in ZIP 72638, with per-capita income of $18,462 vs $26,957. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 6.2% in 72611 and 17.2% in 72638. Poverty rate reads 34.5% vs 16.7%, and unemployment 5.1% vs 3.0% — 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 $93,200 in 72611 versus $175,900 in 72638, with median rent of $825 and $800 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 80.5% vs 75.3%. 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.