ZIP 52052 vs ZIP 52048

This side-by-side compares ZIP 52052 (Guttenberg, IA) and ZIP 52048 (Garber, IA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 52052 has a population of 3,136 at 14 people per square mile, while ZIP 52048 has 333 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 52052 reports a median household income of $61,528 against $56,477 in ZIP 52048, with per-capita income of $40,861 vs $30,830. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 10.2% in 52052 and 9.7% in 52048. Poverty rate reads 16.1% vs 16.9%, and unemployment 2.9% 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 $197,400 in 52052 versus $65,800 in 52048, with median rent of $864 and $475 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 80.7% vs 84.2%. 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.