ZIP 59043 vs ZIP 59327

This side-by-side compares ZIP 59043 (Lame Deer, MT) and ZIP 59327 (Forsyth, MT) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both, no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 59043 has a population of 2,950 at 3 people per square mile, while ZIP 59327 has 2,945 at 1 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 59043 reports a median household income of $29,028 against $52,639 in ZIP 59327, with per-capita income of $11,997 vs $29,034. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 9.4% in 59043 and 20.6% in 59327. Poverty rate reads 52.2% vs 16.4%, and unemployment 34.0% vs 2.6% - 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 $111,000 in 59043 versus $233,900 in 59327, with median rent of $563 and $828 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 59.4% vs 65.2%. 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.