ZIP 59247 vs ZIP 59242

This side-by-side compares ZIP 59247 (Medicine Lake, MT) and ZIP 59242 (Homestead, MT) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 59247 has a population of 314 at 1 people per square mile, while ZIP 59242 has 79 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 59247 reports a median household income of $73,750 against $128,750 in ZIP 59242, with per-capita income of $49,053 vs $71,549. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 22.0% in 59247 and 38.0% in 59242. Poverty rate reads 9.8% vs 3.6%, and unemployment 1.7% vs 0.0% — 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 $110,400 in 59247 versus $154,200 in 59242, with median rent of $732 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 67.7% vs 88.5%. 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.