ZIP 51648 vs ZIP 51654

This side-by-side compares ZIP 51648 (Percival, IA) and ZIP 51654 (Thurman, IA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 51648 has a population of 255 at 2 people per square mile, while ZIP 51654 has 526 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 51648 reports a median household income of $59,766 against $90,188 in ZIP 51654, with per-capita income of $49,903 vs $35,314. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 24.9% in 51648 and 25.4% in 51654. Poverty rate reads 0.0% vs 5.2%, and unemployment 0.0% vs 0.0% — 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 $164,000 in 51648 versus $231,800 in 51654, with median rent of $830 and $1,725 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 80.9% vs 77.3%. 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.