ZIP 51566 vs ZIP 51533

This side-by-side compares ZIP 51566 (Red Oak, IA) and ZIP 51533 (Emerson, IA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 51566 has a population of 7,035 at 15 people per square mile, while ZIP 51533 has 895 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 51566 reports a median household income of $56,637 against $68,750 in ZIP 51533, with per-capita income of $37,850 vs $35,140. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 20.9% in 51566 and 13.1% in 51533. Poverty rate reads 17.2% vs 10.2%, and unemployment 3.2% vs 2.9% — 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 $134,200 in 51566 versus $136,500 in 51533, with median rent of $829 and $1,034 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 63.7% vs 88.0%. 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.