ZIP 59479 vs ZIP 59452

This side-by-side compares ZIP 59479 (Stanford, MT) and ZIP 59452 (Hobson, MT) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both, no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 59479 has a population of 826 at 1 people per square mile, while ZIP 59452 has 525 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 59479 reports a median household income of $49,185 against $54,539 in ZIP 59452, with per-capita income of $32,123 vs $33,482. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 28.2% in 59479 and 28.0% in 59452. Poverty rate reads 25.5% vs 6.9%, and unemployment 0.0% 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 $230,000 in 59479 versus $223,600 in 59452, with median rent of $625 and $484 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 72.8% vs 64.7%. 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.