ZIP 59486 vs ZIP 59432

This side-by-side compares ZIP 59486 (Valier, MT) and ZIP 59432 (Dupuyer, MT) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 59486 has a population of 1,328 at 1 people per square mile, while ZIP 59432 has 104 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 59486 reports a median household income of $56,875 against $73,750 in ZIP 59432, with per-capita income of $31,061 vs $44,275. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 14.8% in 59486 and 24.1% in 59432. Poverty rate reads 22.7% vs 3.5%, and unemployment 2.3% vs 1.2% — 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 $182,900 in 59486 versus $250,000 in 59432, with median rent of $782 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 84.8% vs 88.9%. 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.