ZIP 51051 vs ZIP 51056

This side-by-side compares ZIP 51051 (Rodney, IA) and ZIP 51056 (Smithland, IA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 51051 has a population of 90 at 10 people per square mile, while ZIP 51056 has 478 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 51051 reports a median household income of $51,563 against $103,313 in ZIP 51056, with per-capita income of $30,026 vs $49,630. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 13.8% in 51051 and 22.2% in 51056. Poverty rate reads 10.3% vs 12.4%, and unemployment 16.7% 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 $170,800 in 51051 versus $157,400 in 51056, with median rent of — and $658 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 85.7% vs 92.5%. 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.