ZIP 51523 vs ZIP 51545

This side-by-side compares ZIP 51523 (Blencoe, IA) and ZIP 51545 (Little Sioux, IA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 51523 has a population of 357 at 3 people per square mile, while ZIP 51545 has 378 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 51523 reports a median household income of $82,625 against $70,313 in ZIP 51545, with per-capita income of $40,604 vs $32,551. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 18.9% in 51523 and 5.8% in 51545. Poverty rate reads 8.2% vs 16.1%, and unemployment 3.9% vs 0.8% — 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 $136,800 in 51523 versus $80,000 in 51545, with median rent of $857 and $508 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 79.3% vs 85.5%. 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.