ZIP 51578 vs ZIP 51530

This side-by-side compares ZIP 51578 (Westphalia, IA) and ZIP 51530 (Earling, IA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 51578 has a population of 79 at 817 people per square mile, while ZIP 51530 has 854 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 51578 reports a median household income of $77,292 against $73,750 in ZIP 51530, with per-capita income of $45,207 vs $40,494. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 13.9% in 51578 and 27.4% in 51530. Poverty rate reads 2.6% vs 5.3%, and unemployment 0.0% 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 $97,600 in 51578 versus $163,800 in 51530, with median rent of — and $837 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 72.1% vs 82.2%. 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.