ZIP 51544 vs ZIP 51535

This side-by-side compares ZIP 51544 (Lewis, IA) and ZIP 51535 (Griswold, IA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 51544 has a population of 721 at 5 people per square mile, while ZIP 51535 has 1,923 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 51544 reports a median household income of $48,313 against $76,371 in ZIP 51535, with per-capita income of $26,457 vs $43,285. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 16.4% in 51544 and 22.6% in 51535. Poverty rate reads 8.1% vs 7.9%, and unemployment 3.3% vs 0.9% — 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 $81,000 in 51544 versus $152,300 in 51535, with median rent of $628 and $950 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 81.6% vs 78.6%. 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.