ZIP 59824 vs ZIP 59863

This side-by-side compares ZIP 59824 (Charlo, MT) and ZIP 59863 (Ravalli, MT) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 59824 has a population of 1,792 at 8 people per square mile, while ZIP 59863 has 76 at 2 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 59824 reports a median household income of $53,382 against $78,922 in ZIP 59863, with per-capita income of $32,422 vs $41,595. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 25.4% in 59824 and 5.5% in 59863. Poverty rate reads 15.5% vs 0.0%, and unemployment 2.6% vs 0.0% — 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 $317,800 in 59824 versus — in 59863, with median rent of $846 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 77.9% vs 100.0%. 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.