ZIP 51240 vs ZIP 51241

This side-by-side compares ZIP 51240 (Inwood, IA) and ZIP 51241 (Larchwood, IA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 51240 has a population of 1,746 at 7 people per square mile, while ZIP 51241 has 1,737 at 8 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 51240 reports a median household income of $83,929 against $87,446 in ZIP 51241, with per-capita income of $41,804 vs $41,199. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 16.5% in 51240 and 25.1% in 51241. Poverty rate reads 3.0% vs 7.3%, and unemployment 1.4% 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 $232,600 in 51240 versus $280,600 in 51241, with median rent of $993 and $864 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 86.9% vs 78.7%. 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.