ZIP 74872 vs ZIP 74831

This side-by-side compares ZIP 74872 (Stratford, OK) and ZIP 74831 (Byars, OK) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 74872 has a population of 3,692 at 10 people per square mile, while ZIP 74831 has 923 at 5 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 74872 reports a median household income of $56,321 against $58,750 in ZIP 74831, with per-capita income of $29,647 vs $30,691. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 19.5% in 74872 and 15.5% in 74831. Poverty rate reads 17.0% vs 20.8%, and unemployment 3.0% vs 4.2% — 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 $182,100 in 74872 versus $136,800 in 74831, with median rent of $672 and $597 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 70.1% vs 77.3%. 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.