ZIP 57226 vs ZIP 57238

This side-by-side compares ZIP 57226 (Clear Lake, SD) and ZIP 57238 (Goodwin, SD) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both, no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 57226 has a population of 2,072 at 4 people per square mile, while ZIP 57238 has 483 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 57226 reports a median household income of $83,125 against $66,250 in ZIP 57238, with per-capita income of $34,237 vs $43,531. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 27.0% in 57226 and 17.3% in 57238. Poverty rate reads 11.3% vs 15.2%, and unemployment 2.6% vs 1.8% - 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 $206,400 in 57226 versus $225,700 in 57238, with median rent of $668 and $883 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 75.5% vs 89.1%. 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.