ZIP 52158 vs ZIP 52157

This side-by-side compares ZIP 52158 (Marquette, IA) and ZIP 52157 (Mc Gregor, IA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 52158 has a population of 314 at 103 people per square mile, while ZIP 52157 has 1,828 at 13 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 52158 reports a median household income of $47,188 against $52,625 in ZIP 52157, with per-capita income of $32,149 vs $37,903. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 14.4% in 52158 and 18.4% in 52157. Poverty rate reads 19.7% vs 10.5%, and unemployment 5.6% 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 $161,300 in 52158 versus $193,500 in 52157, with median rent of — and $714 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 86.9% vs 71.3%. 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.