ZIP 51565 vs ZIP 51562

This side-by-side compares ZIP 51565 (Portsmouth, IA) and ZIP 51562 (Panama, IA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 51565 has a population of 501 at 4 people per square mile, while ZIP 51562 has 449 at 5 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 51565 reports a median household income of $103,257 against $81,250 in ZIP 51562, with per-capita income of $45,433 vs $36,874. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 18.5% in 51565 and 17.7% in 51562. Poverty rate reads 8.3% vs 13.9%, and unemployment 0.0% vs 1.4% — 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 $182,100 in 51565 versus $159,000 in 51562, with median rent of $833 and $940 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 64.0% vs 87.9%. 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.