ZIP 55931 vs ZIP 52160

This side-by-side compares ZIP 55931 (Eitzen, MN) and ZIP 52160 (New Albin, IA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 55931 has a population of 330 at 7 people per square mile, while ZIP 52160 has 867 at 8 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 55931 reports a median household income of $77,917 against $85,204 in ZIP 52160, with per-capita income of $33,107 vs $48,487. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 21.7% in 55931 and 30.2% in 52160. Poverty rate reads 4.3% vs 1.7%, and unemployment 1.1% 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 $130,800 in 55931 versus $211,200 in 52160, with median rent of $542 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 80.8% vs 84.8%. 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.