ZIP 51004 vs ZIP 51044

This side-by-side compares ZIP 51004 (Anthon, IA) and ZIP 51044 (Oto, IA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 51004 has a population of 1,033 at 5 people per square mile, while ZIP 51044 has 253 at 3 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 51004 reports a median household income of $43,882 against $90,417 in ZIP 51044, with per-capita income of $31,532 vs $46,394. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 22.5% in 51004 and 29.7% in 51044. Poverty rate reads 11.9% vs 7.3%, and unemployment 0.9% vs 24.3% — 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 $114,600 in 51004 versus $83,800 in 51044, with median rent of $1,063 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 76.6% vs 94.8%. 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.