ZIP 51442 vs ZIP 51454

This side-by-side compares ZIP 51442 (Denison, IA) and ZIP 51454 (Manilla, IA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 51442 has a population of 9,838 at 22 people per square mile, while ZIP 51454 has 1,346 at 5 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 51442 reports a median household income of $66,767 against $100,625 in ZIP 51454, with per-capita income of $31,469 vs $46,460. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 17.3% in 51442 and 13.6% in 51454. Poverty rate reads 16.2% vs 3.9%, and unemployment 4.9% vs 0.2% — 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 $159,400 in 51442 versus $167,400 in 51454, with median rent of $755 and $650 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 73.2% vs 88.4%. 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.