ZIP 51249 vs ZIP 56117

This side-by-side compares ZIP 51249 (Sibley, IA) and ZIP 56117 (Bigelow, MN) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 51249 has a population of 3,593 at 11 people per square mile, while ZIP 56117 has 399 at 6 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 51249 reports a median household income of $61,500 against $63,438 in ZIP 56117, with per-capita income of $35,382 vs $36,793. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 21.2% in 51249 and 13.8% in 56117. Poverty rate reads 22.5% vs 8.6%, and unemployment 5.2% vs 5.8% — 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 $160,700 in 51249 versus $133,000 in 56117, with median rent of $774 and $1,375 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 77.9% vs 67.1%. 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.