ZIP 51243 vs ZIP 51237

This side-by-side compares ZIP 51243 (Little Rock, IA) and ZIP 51237 (George, IA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 51243 has a population of 807 at 6 people per square mile, while ZIP 51237 has 1,703 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 51243 reports a median household income of $83,750 against $61,667 in ZIP 51237, with per-capita income of $39,039 vs $34,014. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 18.0% in 51243 and 20.6% in 51237. Poverty rate reads 5.6% vs 6.9%, and unemployment 0.0% vs 1.6% — 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 $92,200 in 51243 versus $159,500 in 51237, with median rent of $608 and $822 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 89.1% vs 80.4%. 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.