ZIP code 38042

ZIP 38042 is a very small community in Hardeman County, Tennessee, with 451 residents counted in the Census American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, which places it #581 of 638 ranked by population — larger than 8% of them. The median age here is 69.1 years against 39.1 nationally, a markedly older profile that usually tracks retirees staying put and younger households leaving for work. At this population the ACS sample is small, so the margin of error around every dollar figure below is wide — treat the numbers as a band, not a point, and expect them to move between annual releases without the place itself changing.

Households in ZIP 38042 earn a median of $48,897 a year, 37.7% below the national figure of $78,538. This figure covers the household, not the worker: two people on ordinary wages at one address outrank a single professional in the same table. Poverty reaches 18.2% of residents here, above the 12.4% national rate.

The typical owner-occupied home in ZIP 38042 is valued at $144,300, 52.4% below the national figure, while median gross rent runs $1,005 a month, 28.5% below the national figure, or roughly $12,060 across a full year. A household on the local median income would put about 24.7% of gross pay toward that rent against the federal 30% cost-burden threshold, so renting here is within the standard affordability guideline. The home-price-to-income ratio works out to 3×, against roughly 3.9× nationally, so buying is easier here than in the average US market. 77.6% of occupied homes are owner-occupied versus 65% nationally, so the market leans toward owners. Rent is reported gross — contract rent plus tenant-paid utilities — which is why it runs above the advertised price on a listing for the same unit.

A median age of 69.1 puts ZIP 38042 well into retirement-weighted territory, which pulls median household income down even where household wealth is high, because retirement draws are counted differently from wages. With 451 residents, a handful of survey responses moves every median on this page. Compare ZIP 38042 against its county rather than against national figures.

All values below were released by the Census for this exact geography, with no gap-filling on our side. Small-area estimates still carry wider margins of error than state or national figures, so check the linked ACS tables before relying on them for lending, appraisal or legal work.

ZIP 38042 is tabulated inside Hardeman County, Tennessee, one of 8 ZIP areas the Census publishes for that county and 638 across Tennessee. This is one of the smallest tabulated ZIP areas in the state, the kind of rural route where a single subdivision or farm cluster accounts for most addresses. County assignment on this page follows the largest share of the ZIP's land area, which matters where a delivery route crosses a county line: mail addressed to 38042 can be handled by a post office in a neighbouring county even though the tabulation area is filed here.

Against its own county, 38042 reports a median household income of $48,897, close to the $48,560 county median, and 17% below the $59,143 typical TN ZIP. Owner-occupied homes are valued at a median of $144,300, 14% above the county figure and 26% below the statewide ZIP median. Rent is reported gross — the contract amount plus tenant-paid utilities — at $1,005 a month, which is why it reads higher than the advertised rent on a listing for the same unit.

Tennessee charges 7% statewide, and local governments overlapping 38042 may add county, city or special-district levies on top. We publish the state floor for this ZIP rather than guessing a combined figure, because ZIP boundaries and taxing-district boundaries were drawn for different purposes and do not line up.

Everything above comes from the Census Bureau American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates for this ZIP Code Tabulation Area, with sales tax rates traced to the state revenue agency. Five-year estimates pool sixty months of responses, so they are stable enough to compare 38042 with its neighbours but always trail the current year, and any value the Census suppressed for sample size is shown as unpublished rather than filled in with a model.