ZIP 51541 vs ZIP 51549

This side-by-side compares ZIP 51541 (Henderson, IA) and ZIP 51549 (Macedonia, IA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 51541 has a population of 363 at 3 people per square mile, while ZIP 51549 has 465 at 6 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 51541 reports a median household income of $91,875 against $72,500 in ZIP 51549, with per-capita income of $46,757 vs $37,612. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 36.8% in 51541 and 21.9% in 51549. Poverty rate reads 13.2% vs 14.3%, and unemployment 0.0% vs 3.2% — 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 $163,600 in 51541 versus $161,900 in 51549, with median rent of — and $1,029 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 97.0% vs 73.1%. 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.