ZIP 51458 vs ZIP 51431

This side-by-side compares ZIP 51458 (Odebolt, IA) and ZIP 51431 (Arthur, IA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 51458 has a population of 1,467 at 6 people per square mile, while ZIP 51431 has 394 at 4 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 51458 reports a median household income of $86,250 against $54,258 in ZIP 51431, with per-capita income of $36,882 vs $33,507. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 21.4% in 51458 and 20.0% in 51431. Poverty rate reads 4.8% vs 14.2%, and unemployment 3.0% vs 0.0% — 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 $149,400 in 51458 versus $80,000 in 51431, with median rent of $660 and $676 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 82.3% vs 66.3%. 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.