ZIP 56051 vs ZIP 50473

This side-by-side compares ZIP 56051 (Kiester, MN) and ZIP 50473 (Scarville, IA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 56051 has a population of 703 at 9 people per square mile, while ZIP 50473 has 268 at 3 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 56051 reports a median household income of $54,286 against $50,227 in ZIP 50473, with per-capita income of $35,990 vs $31,732. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 11.3% in 56051 and 20.0% in 50473. Poverty rate reads 18.2% vs 8.2%, and unemployment 4.0% vs 1.0% — 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 $68,100 in 56051 versus $140,500 in 50473, with median rent of $900 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 83.7% vs 83.0%. 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.