ZIP 51044 vs ZIP 51004

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