ZIP 51055 vs ZIP 51052

This side-by-side compares ZIP 51055 (Sloan, IA) and ZIP 51052 (Salix, IA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 51055 has a population of 1,319 at 8 people per square mile, while ZIP 51052 has 1,027 at 7 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 51055 reports a median household income of $72,143 against $108,750 in ZIP 51052, with per-capita income of $47,894 vs $50,935. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 27.9% in 51055 and 27.3% in 51052. Poverty rate reads 14.6% vs 1.5%, and unemployment 6.2% vs 4.9% — 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 $218,300 in 51055 versus $281,100 in 51052, with median rent of $781 and $775 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 69.9% vs 79.3%. 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.