ZIP 51231 vs ZIP 51245

This side-by-side compares ZIP 51231 (Archer, IA) and ZIP 51245 (Primghar, IA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 51231 has a population of 282 at 4 people per square mile, while ZIP 51245 has 1,359 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 51231 reports a median household income of $108,058 against $69,531 in ZIP 51245, with per-capita income of $22,575 vs $28,395. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 33.5% in 51231 and 24.2% in 51245. Poverty rate reads 29.7% vs 19.5%, and unemployment 0.0% vs 1.0% — 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 $189,500 in 51231 versus $149,700 in 51245, with median rent of — and $672 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 94.3% vs 78.9%. 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.