ZIP 59722 vs ZIP 59728

This side-by-side compares ZIP 59722 (Deer Lodge, MT) and ZIP 59728 (Elliston, MT) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 59722 has a population of 5,781 at 6 people per square mile, while ZIP 59728 has 343 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 59722 reports a median household income of $62,230 against $78,750 in ZIP 59728, with per-capita income of $30,117 vs $43,129. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 17.9% in 59722 and 24.1% in 59728. Poverty rate reads 5.7% vs 8.0%, and unemployment 2.2% vs 5.8% — 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 $279,000 in 59722 versus $421,400 in 59728, with median rent of $826 and $775 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 70.9% vs 81.6%. 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.