ZIP 59855 vs ZIP 59864

This side-by-side compares ZIP 59855 (Pablo, MT) and ZIP 59864 (Ronan, MT) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 59855 has a population of 957 at 508 people per square mile, while ZIP 59864 has 6,752 at 14 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 59855 reports a median household income of $32,688 against $61,978 in ZIP 59864, with per-capita income of $13,472 vs $32,104. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 9.6% in 59855 and 22.3% in 59864. Poverty rate reads 42.2% vs 23.0%, and unemployment 0.0% vs 6.7% — 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 $160,600 in 59855 versus $297,700 in 59864, with median rent of $631 and $913 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 56.7% vs 70.4%. 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.