ZIP 74538 vs ZIP 74572

This side-by-side compares ZIP 74538 (Coalgate, OK) and ZIP 74572 (Tupelo, OK) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 74538 has a population of 4,200 at 5 people per square mile, while ZIP 74572 has 712 at 6 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 74538 reports a median household income of $51,366 against $44,712 in ZIP 74572, with per-capita income of $27,260 vs $27,640. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 20.3% in 74538 and 10.4% in 74572. Poverty rate reads 21.6% vs 15.7%, and unemployment 8.3% vs 3.6% — 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 $124,500 in 74538 versus $88,800 in 74572, with median rent of $715 and $886 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 63.4% vs 85.1%. 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.