ZIP 51530 vs ZIP 51578

This side-by-side compares ZIP 51530 (Earling, IA) and ZIP 51578 (Westphalia, IA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 51530 has a population of 854 at 6 people per square mile, while ZIP 51578 has 79 at 817 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 51530 reports a median household income of $73,750 against $77,292 in ZIP 51578, with per-capita income of $40,494 vs $45,207. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 27.4% in 51530 and 13.9% in 51578. Poverty rate reads 5.3% vs 2.6%, and unemployment 2.9% 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 $163,800 in 51530 versus $97,600 in 51578, with median rent of $837 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 82.2% vs 72.1%. 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.