ZIP 51001 vs ZIP 51011

This side-by-side compares ZIP 51001 (Akron, IA) and ZIP 51011 (Chatsworth, IA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 51001 has a population of 2,432 at 7 people per square mile, while ZIP 51011 has 79 at 62 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 51001 reports a median household income of $75,404 against $44,375 in ZIP 51011, with per-capita income of $40,845 vs $24,991. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 24.6% in 51001 and 0.0% in 51011. Poverty rate reads 7.1% vs 13.0%, and unemployment 1.2% vs 0.0% — 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 $192,700 in 51001 versus — in 51011, with median rent of $716 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 76.1% vs 86.7%. 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.