ZIP 52154 vs ZIP 52163

This side-by-side compares ZIP 52154 (Lawler, IA) and ZIP 52163 (Protivin, IA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 52154 has a population of 995 at 5 people per square mile, while ZIP 52163 has 276 at 60 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 52154 reports a median household income of $58,393 against $78,194 in ZIP 52163, with per-capita income of $37,561 vs $31,526. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 25.7% in 52154 and 32.8% in 52163. Poverty rate reads 9.0% vs 2.1%, and unemployment 2.8% vs 0.6% — 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 $156,100 in 52154 versus $115,000 in 52163, with median rent of $621 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 83.4% vs 75.2%. 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.