ZIP 72638 vs ZIP 72611

This side-by-side compares ZIP 72638 (Green Forest, AR) and ZIP 72611 (Alpena, AR) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 72638 has a population of 7,186 at 15 people per square mile, while ZIP 72611 has 1,696 at 9 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 72638 reports a median household income of $65,175 against $42,361 in ZIP 72611, with per-capita income of $26,957 vs $18,462. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 17.2% in 72638 and 6.2% in 72611. Poverty rate reads 16.7% vs 34.5%, and unemployment 3.0% vs 5.1% — 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 $175,900 in 72638 versus $93,200 in 72611, with median rent of $800 and $825 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 75.3% vs 80.5%. 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.