ZIP 72635 vs ZIP 72626

This side-by-side compares ZIP 72635 (Gassville, AR) and ZIP 72626 (Cotter, AR) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 72635 has a population of 3,624 at 48 people per square mile, while ZIP 72626 has 1,243 at 85 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 72635 reports a median household income of $49,709 against $36,417 in ZIP 72626, with per-capita income of $27,135 vs $28,325. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 14.4% in 72635 and 14.4% in 72626. Poverty rate reads 13.1% vs 10.7%, and unemployment 4.8% vs 1.0% — 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 $172,100 in 72635 versus $266,000 in 72626, with median rent of $809 and $800 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 74.9% vs 75.9%. 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.