ZIP 51531 vs ZIP 51543

This side-by-side compares ZIP 51531 (Elk Horn, IA) and ZIP 51543 (Kimballton, IA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 51531 has a population of 914 at 12 people per square mile, while ZIP 51543 has 445 at 8 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 51531 reports a median household income of $59,199 against $72,083 in ZIP 51543, with per-capita income of $37,230 vs $28,132. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 28.6% in 51531 and 9.0% in 51543. Poverty rate reads 9.6% vs 21.8%, and unemployment 1.4% vs 3.0% — 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 $131,500 in 51531 versus $163,000 in 51543, with median rent of $668 and $1,069 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 78.4% 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.