ZIP 72640 vs ZIP 72685

This side-by-side compares ZIP 72640 (Hasty, AR) and ZIP 72685 (Western Grove, AR) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 72640 has a population of 385 at 7 people per square mile, while ZIP 72685 has 1,365 at 10 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 72640 reports a median household income of $103,409 against $48,750 in ZIP 72685, with per-capita income of $29,667 vs $24,914. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 24.2% in 72640 and 11.8% in 72685. Poverty rate reads 0.0% vs 22.3%, and unemployment 28.3% vs 1.1% — 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 $165,800 in 72640 versus $203,900 in 72685, with median rent of — and $817 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 91.0% vs 80.6%. 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.