ZIP 52248 vs ZIP 52231

This side-by-side compares ZIP 52248 (Keota, IA) and ZIP 52231 (Harper, IA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 52248 has a population of 1,815 at 6 people per square mile, while ZIP 52231 has 328 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 52248 reports a median household income of $77,174 against $90,893 in ZIP 52231, with per-capita income of $40,512 vs $36,397. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 18.8% in 52248 and 16.5% in 52231. Poverty rate reads 11.3% vs 2.2%, and unemployment 0.3% vs 2.8% — 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 $157,000 in 52248 versus $242,400 in 52231, with median rent of $787 and $1,125 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 89.8% vs 96.4%. 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.