ZIP 72926 vs ZIP 71953

This side-by-side compares ZIP 72926 (Boles, AR) and ZIP 71953 (Mena, AR) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 72926 has a population of 545 at 3 people per square mile, while ZIP 71953 has 14,882 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 72926 reports a median household income of $82,578 against $51,969 in ZIP 71953, with per-capita income of $24,322 vs $30,724. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 14.8% in 72926 and 20.1% in 71953. Poverty rate reads 4.9% vs 12.9%, and unemployment 3.1% vs 7.5% — 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 $148,400 in 72926 versus $164,100 in 71953, with median rent of — and $699 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 96.4% vs 80.8%. 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.