ZIP 51247 vs ZIP 51235

This side-by-side compares ZIP 51247 (Rock Valley, IA) and ZIP 51235 (Doon, IA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 51247 has a population of 4,870 at 17 people per square mile, while ZIP 51235 has 1,079 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 51247 reports a median household income of $78,358 against $71,016 in ZIP 51235, with per-capita income of $35,505 vs $40,773. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 15.1% in 51247 and 7.6% in 51235. Poverty rate reads 8.8% vs 9.8%, and unemployment 0.3% vs 9.3% — 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 $262,900 in 51247 versus $240,700 in 51235, with median rent of $1,142 and $531 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 61.1% vs 74.2%. 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.