ZIP 59405 vs ZIP 59472

This side-by-side compares ZIP 59405 (Great Falls, MT) and ZIP 59472 (Sand Coulee, MT) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 59405 has a population of 31,438 at 30 people per square mile, while ZIP 59472 has 657 at 6 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 59405 reports a median household income of $59,449 against $68,036 in ZIP 59472, with per-capita income of $36,131 vs $42,536. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 27.2% in 59405 and 23.2% in 59472. Poverty rate reads 16.4% vs 12.4%, and unemployment 4.4% 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 $250,100 in 59405 versus $235,300 in 59472, with median rent of $965 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 57.0% vs 91.2%. 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.