PlainZIP

Council Bluffs, IA

Single-footprint Census roll-up for Council Bluffs, IA: 2 USPS ZIPs, population 71,782. Open the primary ZIP for household income, housing tenure, and commute from ACS 2023 5-Year Estimates.

U.S. Census Bureau, SimpleMaps US ZIP Code Database, delivery-area ZIP coverage

ACS city ledger plate

Sheet COUNCIL-BLUFFS-IA · Council Bluffs, IA 2 ZIPs · 71,782 pop · #13481/25278 · Pottawattamie County

INC-MID · RANK-MID · BELOW-PEER · BOOK-FEW · OWN-MID · POP-SMALL · SPREAD-MOD · HOME-MID

  • INC-MID $69,427
  • RANK-MID #13481/25278
  • BELOW-PEER under Walnut
  • BOOK-FEW 2 ZIPs
  • OWN-MID 66% owners
  • POP-SMALL 71,782
  • SPREAD-MOD 51501→51503
  • HOME-MID $207,350

Nearest income peer: Walnut, IA (+ $2,091 income $)

Instrument codes from this city’s ACS household income, national rank, county-peer gap, ZIP book, owner tenure, population scale, intra-city income spread, and home-value band, not a moving recommendation.

Income neighbourhood around Council Bluffs

Lowest/highest poles plus county-sharing cities nearest Council Bluffs on average ZIP median household income. Full ladder: /cities.

median HH income

What this shows County-sharing peers only, not the full US city board. Open a near peer when the gap is small; open the poles when the mosaic is wide.

Source U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 5-Year Estimates As of 2026-08-25

National city placement

According to ACS 5-Year Estimates, Council Bluffs, IA sits among US cities with a below-median household income, on a small-city population base, across a handful of delivery areas.

47th pct
household income vs 25,278 US cities
71,782
city population (Census)
2
USPS ZIP codes covered
$69,427
avg ZIP median income

Income percentile ranks this city's average ZIP median household income against 25,278 US cities with ACS income on at least one ZIP. Scale and ZIP-spread words come from Census population and USPS ZIP coverage.

Below-median income with few delivery areas (2): read cost-of-living from the primary ZIP. Household income $69,427 and poverty 13.6% concentrate in 51503.

Owner-occupancy sits in a mixed band (66.2%) - check the ZIP page's tenure split before treating Council Bluffs as a pure owner town.

Within Iowa, Persia is the closest lower-income city and Badger the closest higher-income city by average ZIP household income. Their 1 and 1 ZIP footprints are the immediate statewide comparison set for Council Bluffs.

Within-city ZIP comparison

Where the ZIP codes inside Council Bluffs differ

Housing values create the stronger within-city contrast here. ZIP 51501 has a median home value of $152,400, compared with $262,300 in 51503. Use the city average for a broad profile, then compare these ZIP pages when a housing decision depends on the local market.

Income high-to-low ratio
1.3×

51501 to 51503

Home-value high-to-low ratio
1.7×

51501 to 51503

Poverty-rate spread
5.5 points

51503 to 51501

Derived from the published ACS 2023 ZIP-level records shown on this site. A high-to-low ratio compares the highest and lowest available ZIP values; it is not a score or forecast.

Population concentration

Lead ZIP 51503 skews compact Council Bluffs

In this 2-ZIP cluster, 51503 covers about 51% of Council Bluffs's 71,782 residents. City averages lean toward that lead; open a thinner sibling ZIP for the contrast the mean hides.

Census ZBP business roll-up

Balanced ZBP roll-up inside compact Council Bluffs

Citywide ZBP: 1,465 establishments, 27,662 employees , annual payroll $1,372,813k (~20 establishments per 1,000 residents) across 2 of 2 ZIPs. Peak business ZIP 51501 (744 units) ; leading NAICS Health care and social assistance (198) · also Retail trade · Accommodation and food services .

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ZIP Codes in Council Bluffs, IA

These ZIP codes sit in Pottawattamie County, which covers 16 ZIP codes in all; 2 of them fall in Council Bluffs. See the Pottawattamie County roll-up →

Every one of the 12 cities sharing Pottawattamie County reports a higher average ZIP median income than Council Bluffs, Carter Lake, Underwood and Oakland among them. That gap is the county's income spread, not a measure of the housing or commute picture below. Honey Creek marks the far end of that range at $118,165, 70% above Council Bluffs.

Side-by-side: Compare 51503 vs 51501 →

ZIP Code Population Median income Establishments Density
51503 36,376 $79,010 721 118
51501 35,406 $59,843 744 566
How we build city roll-ups · Guide: reading ZIP code data · BLS wages

Council Bluffs roll-ups here are for informational purposes only and do not constitute financial or relocation advice. ACS and Census ZBP figures are estimates; confirm the current table against Census before a money or move decision involving Council Bluffs, .