ZIP 51028 vs ZIP 51048

This side-by-side compares ZIP 51028 (Kingsley, IA) and ZIP 51048 (Pierson, IA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 51028 has a population of 2,065 at 6 people per square mile, while ZIP 51048 has 554 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 51028 reports a median household income of $78,000 against $83,158 in ZIP 51048, with per-capita income of $41,829 vs $30,464. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 29.9% in 51028 and 22.4% in 51048. Poverty rate reads 6.8% vs 9.0%, and unemployment 1.0% vs 2.8% — 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 $219,600 in 51028 versus $103,100 in 51048, with median rent of $785 and $606 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 83.4% vs 85.3%. 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.