ZIP 51012 vs ZIP 51035

This side-by-side compares ZIP 51012 (Cherokee, IA) and ZIP 51035 (Marcus, IA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 51012 has a population of 6,642 at 17 people per square mile, while ZIP 51035 has 1,685 at 6 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 51012 reports a median household income of $69,531 against $79,338 in ZIP 51035, with per-capita income of $40,373 vs $46,137. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 25.1% in 51012 and 25.4% in 51035. Poverty rate reads 16.1% vs 6.0%, and unemployment 2.6% vs 1.6% — 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 $151,400 in 51012 versus $209,700 in 51035, with median rent of $803 and $642 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 68.9% vs 82.8%. 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.