ZIP 51446 vs ZIP 51447

This side-by-side compares ZIP 51446 (Irwin, IA) and ZIP 51447 (Kirkman, IA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 51446 has a population of 511 at 6 people per square mile, while ZIP 51447 has 228 at 3 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 51446 reports a median household income of $62,750 against $68,214 in ZIP 51447, with per-capita income of $54,812 vs $38,842. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 30.0% in 51446 and 17.3% in 51447. Poverty rate reads 10.9% vs 29.2%, and unemployment 0.4% vs 12.8% — 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 $91,400 in 51446 versus $141,700 in 51447, with median rent of $705 and $1,167 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 87.4% vs 61.5%. 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.