ZIP 59635 vs ZIP 59634

This side-by-side compares ZIP 59635 (East Helena, MT) and ZIP 59634 (Clancy, MT) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 59635 has a population of 7,282 at 39 people per square mile, while ZIP 59634 has 4,819 at 12 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 59635 reports a median household income of $83,740 against $129,891 in ZIP 59634, with per-capita income of $43,827 vs $61,648. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 37.0% in 59635 and 46.8% in 59634. Poverty rate reads 6.5% vs 2.7%, and unemployment 1.6% vs 3.8% — 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 $395,600 in 59635 versus $553,900 in 59634, with median rent of $1,053 and $994 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 82.8% vs 93.9%. 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.