ZIP 52208 vs ZIP 52257

This side-by-side compares ZIP 52208 (Belle Plaine, IA) and ZIP 52257 (Luzerne, IA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 52208 has a population of 3,153 at 21 people per square mile, while ZIP 52257 has 210 at 5 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 52208 reports a median household income of $74,127 against $94,464 in ZIP 52257, with per-capita income of $41,266 vs $40,694. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 18.0% in 52208 and 25.0% in 52257. Poverty rate reads 4.0% vs 14.8%, and unemployment 1.0% vs 1.7% — 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 $120,700 in 52208 versus — in 52257, with median rent of $847 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 82.0% vs 84.5%. 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.