ZIP 59848 vs ZIP 59845

This side-by-side compares ZIP 59848 (Lonepine, MT) and ZIP 59845 (Hot Springs, MT) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 59848 has a population of 106 at 1 people per square mile, while ZIP 59845 has 1,186 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 59848 reports a median household income of $37,188 against $31,970 in ZIP 59845, with per-capita income of $29,926 vs $24,902. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 27.4% in 59848 and 21.5% in 59845. Poverty rate reads 27.2% vs 20.1%, and unemployment 10.0% vs 9.1% — 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 $462,500 in 59848 versus $191,100 in 59845, with median rent of — and $723 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 80.5% vs 69.2%. 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.