ZIP 59068 vs ZIP 59041

This side-by-side compares ZIP 59068 (Red Lodge, MT) and ZIP 59041 (Joliet, MT) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 59068 has a population of 3,580 at 3 people per square mile, while ZIP 59041 has 1,950 at 4 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 59068 reports a median household income of $80,962 against $80,500 in ZIP 59041, with per-capita income of $58,119 vs $41,586. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 50.6% in 59068 and 22.6% in 59041. Poverty rate reads 4.3% vs 8.9%, and unemployment 3.0% vs 0.3% — 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 $438,700 in 59068 versus $411,700 in 59041, with median rent of $724 and $1,185 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 71.9% vs 81.3%. 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.