ZIP 51529 vs ZIP 51528

This side-by-side compares ZIP 51529 (Dunlap, IA) and ZIP 51528 (Dow City, IA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 51529 has a population of 1,671 at 5 people per square mile, while ZIP 51528 has 931 at 5 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 51529 reports a median household income of $61,599 against $63,173 in ZIP 51528, with per-capita income of $42,850 vs $37,426. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 14.9% in 51529 and 13.1% in 51528. Poverty rate reads 5.5% vs 14.5%, and unemployment 3.6% vs 0.5% — 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 $156,800 in 51529 versus $117,900 in 51528, with median rent of $902 and $742 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 73.1% vs 66.7%. 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.