ZIP 72832 vs ZIP 72821

This side-by-side compares ZIP 72832 (Coal Hill, AR) and ZIP 72821 (Altus, AR) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 72832 has a population of 923 at 43 people per square mile, while ZIP 72821 has 2,048 at 22 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 72832 reports a median household income of $27,356 against $37,083 in ZIP 72821, with per-capita income of $17,727 vs $25,387. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 9.6% in 72832 and 12.2% in 72821. Poverty rate reads 27.5% vs 31.3%, and unemployment 8.9% vs 6.2% — 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 $86,500 in 72832 versus $100,000 in 72821, with median rent of $602 and $716 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 66.8% vs 75.7%. 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.