ZIP 51449 vs ZIP 51451

This side-by-side compares ZIP 51449 (Lake City, IA) and ZIP 51451 (Lanesboro, IA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 51449 has a population of 2,128 at 9 people per square mile, while ZIP 51451 has 116 at 122 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 51449 reports a median household income of $75,329 against $43,750 in ZIP 51451, with per-capita income of $47,087 vs $31,750. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 17.6% in 51449 and 7.7% in 51451. Poverty rate reads 9.4% vs 13.5%, and unemployment 1.3% vs 9.5% — 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 $115,800 in 51449 versus $68,800 in 51451, with median rent of $763 and $475 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 80.6% vs 84.3%. 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.