ZIP 51553 vs ZIP 51559

This side-by-side compares ZIP 51553 (Minden, IA) and ZIP 51559 (Neola, IA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 51553 has a population of 1,013 at 9 people per square mile, while ZIP 51559 has 1,788 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 51553 reports a median household income of $96,932 against $74,761 in ZIP 51559, with per-capita income of $40,060 vs $36,076. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 26.6% in 51553 and 22.5% in 51559. Poverty rate reads 5.8% vs 6.2%, and unemployment 0.5% vs 10.7% — 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 $225,900 in 51553 versus $201,800 in 51559, with median rent of $700 and $961 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 90.3% vs 74.1%. 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.