ZIP 59442 vs ZIP 59520

This side-by-side compares ZIP 59442 (Fort Benton, MT) and ZIP 59520 (Big Sandy, MT) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both, no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 59442 has a population of 1,789 at 1 people per square mile, while ZIP 59520 has 1,030 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 59442 reports a median household income of $67,917 against $62,109 in ZIP 59520, with per-capita income of $29,690 vs $31,481. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 28.5% in 59442 and 18.5% in 59520. Poverty rate reads 3.0% vs 6.7%, and unemployment 0.8% vs 7.8% - 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 $254,000 in 59442 versus $204,000 in 59520, with median rent of $686 and $563 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 78.0% vs 71.5%. 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.