ZIP 52656 vs ZIP 52657

This side-by-side compares ZIP 52656 (West Point, IA) and ZIP 52657 (Saint Paul, IA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 52656 has a population of 2,359 at 10 people per square mile, while ZIP 52657 has 95 at 193 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 52656 reports a median household income of $83,750 against $72,500 in ZIP 52657, with per-capita income of $55,077 vs $39,229. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 25.3% in 52656 and 40.4% in 52657. Poverty rate reads 6.1% vs 0.0%, and unemployment 0.8% 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 $189,900 in 52656 versus $140,600 in 52657, with median rent of $608 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 87.5% vs 97.1%. 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.