ZIP 51462 vs ZIP 51459

This side-by-side compares ZIP 51462 (Scranton, IA) and ZIP 51459 (Ralston, IA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 51462 has a population of 1,013 at 4 people per square mile, while ZIP 51459 has 75 at 55 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 51462 reports a median household income of $69,286 against $63,333 in ZIP 51459, with per-capita income of $39,242 vs $25,578. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 17.9% in 51462 and 0.0% in 51459. Poverty rate reads 12.3% vs 29.6%, and unemployment 2.4% vs 9.1% — 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 $146,300 in 51462 versus $75,000 in 51459, with median rent of $903 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 75.3% vs 81.8%. 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.