ZIP 51557 vs ZIP 51556

This side-by-side compares ZIP 51557 (Mondamin, IA) and ZIP 51556 (Modale, IA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 51557 has a population of 873 at 5 people per square mile, while ZIP 51556 has 437 at 4 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 51557 reports a median household income of $76,250 against $60,556 in ZIP 51556, with per-capita income of $39,240 vs $38,680. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 27.4% in 51557 and 9.7% in 51556. Poverty rate reads 6.3% vs 20.3%, and unemployment 1.5% vs 10.1% — 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 $161,000 in 51557 versus $139,600 in 51556, with median rent of $890 and $1,125 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 88.3% vs 84.9%. 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.