ZIP 59501 vs ZIP 59521

This side-by-side compares ZIP 59501 (Havre, MT) and ZIP 59521 (Box Elder, MT) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 59501 has a population of 12,638 at 4 people per square mile, while ZIP 59521 has 3,475 at 5 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 59501 reports a median household income of $51,872 against $50,288 in ZIP 59521, with per-capita income of $31,677 vs $20,202. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 24.6% in 59501 and 18.7% in 59521. Poverty rate reads 18.2% vs 33.0%, and unemployment 2.9% vs 10.7% — 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 $218,100 in 59501 versus $103,700 in 59521, with median rent of $853 and $406 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 68.5% vs 37.4%. 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.