ZIP 59414 vs ZIP 59401

This side-by-side compares ZIP 59414 (Black Eagle, MT) and ZIP 59401 (Great Falls, MT) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 59414 has a population of 904 at 210 people per square mile, while ZIP 59401 has 13,774 at 1,712 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 59414 reports a median household income of $69,545 against $55,299 in ZIP 59401, with per-capita income of $35,603 vs $36,499. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 15.9% in 59414 and 27.8% in 59401. Poverty rate reads 31.4% vs 17.1%, and unemployment 1.8% vs 3.3% — 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 $190,400 in 59414 versus $223,200 in 59401, with median rent of $1,182 and $824 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 74.8% vs 55.4%. 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.