ZIP 51246 vs ZIP 51240

This side-by-side compares ZIP 51246 (Rock Rapids, IA) and ZIP 51240 (Inwood, IA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 51246 has a population of 3,844 at 9 people per square mile, while ZIP 51240 has 1,746 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 51246 reports a median household income of $72,400 against $83,929 in ZIP 51240, with per-capita income of $31,514 vs $41,804. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 22.7% in 51246 and 16.5% in 51240. Poverty rate reads 4.2% vs 3.0%, and unemployment 2.4% vs 1.4% — 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 $247,900 in 51246 versus $232,600 in 51240, with median rent of $812 and $993 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 78.8% vs 86.9%. 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.