ZIP 59483 vs ZIP 59487

This side-by-side compares ZIP 59483 (Sun River, MT) and ZIP 59487 (Vaughn, MT) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 59483 has a population of 530 at 2 people per square mile, while ZIP 59487 has 1,240 at 9 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 59483 reports a median household income of $97,813 against $56,359 in ZIP 59487, with per-capita income of $110,876 vs $29,399. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 16.8% in 59483 and 13.7% in 59487. Poverty rate reads 4.0% vs 16.0%, and unemployment 5.7% vs 0.7% — 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 $429,400 in 59483 versus $229,300 in 59487, with median rent of — and $955 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 97.5% vs 87.2%. 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.