ZIP 59324 vs ZIP 59311

This side-by-side compares ZIP 59324 (Ekalaka, MT) and ZIP 59311 (Alzada, MT) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both, no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 59324 has a population of 821 at 0 people per square mile, while ZIP 59311 has 159 at 0 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 59324 reports a median household income of $57,188 against $88,021 in ZIP 59311, with per-capita income of $29,335 vs $39,210. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 19.8% in 59324 and 14.0% in 59311. Poverty rate reads 18.5% vs 4.2%, and unemployment 5.4% 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 $176,000 in 59324 versus - in 59311, with median rent of $713 and - per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 70.3% vs 66.2%. 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.