ZIP 52101 vs ZIP 52132

This side-by-side compares ZIP 52101 (Decorah, IA) and ZIP 52132 (Calmar, IA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 52101 has a population of 13,864 at 17 people per square mile, while ZIP 52132 has 1,938 at 12 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 52101 reports a median household income of $73,484 against $100,559 in ZIP 52132, with per-capita income of $42,545 vs $44,415. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 37.8% in 52101 and 23.1% in 52132. Poverty rate reads 9.7% vs 8.0%, and unemployment 3.1% vs 0.3% — 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 $273,200 in 52101 versus $231,600 in 52132, with median rent of $883 and $775 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 70.5% vs 70.3%. 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.