ZIP 96766 vs ZIP 96756

This side-by-side compares ZIP 96766 (Lihue, HI) and ZIP 96756 (Koloa, HI) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 96766 has a population of 14,683 at 67 people per square mile, while ZIP 96756 has 5,190 at 81 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 96766 reports a median household income of $100,678 against $99,274 in ZIP 96756, with per-capita income of $38,886 vs $47,903. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 29.1% in 96766 and 33.5% in 96756. Poverty rate reads 7.0% vs 6.1%, and unemployment 2.6% vs 6.0% — 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 $793,000 in 96766 versus $969,800 in 96756, with median rent of $1,942 and $1,659 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 68.1% vs 57.1%. 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.