ZIP 51331 vs ZIP 51355

This side-by-side compares ZIP 51331 (Arnolds Park, IA) and ZIP 51355 (Okoboji, IA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 51331 has a population of 1,140 at 262 people per square mile, while ZIP 51355 has 874 at 141 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 51331 reports a median household income of $89,167 against $72,262 in ZIP 51355, with per-capita income of $70,729 vs $62,450. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 40.7% in 51331 and 44.7% in 51355. Poverty rate reads 5.8% vs 11.0%, and unemployment 0.5% 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 $448,800 in 51331 versus $421,100 in 51355, with median rent of $497 and $942 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 89.3% vs 71.3%. 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.