ZIP 58521 vs ZIP 58503

This side-by-side compares ZIP 58521 (Baldwin, ND) and ZIP 58503 (Bismarck, ND) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 58521 has a population of 658 at 2 people per square mile, while ZIP 58503 has 25,734 at 75 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 58521 reports a median household income of $135,456 against $102,333 in ZIP 58503, with per-capita income of $59,457 vs $52,843. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 45.1% in 58521 and 48.4% in 58503. Poverty rate reads 3.9% vs 4.3%, and unemployment 1.0% vs 0.8% — 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 $398,800 in 58521 versus $393,700 in 58503, with median rent of — and $1,132 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 84.0% vs 74.3%. 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.