ZIP 59923 vs ZIP 59917

This side-by-side compares ZIP 59923 (Libby, MT) and ZIP 59917 (Eureka, MT) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 59923 has a population of 9,856 at 3 people per square mile, while ZIP 59917 has 4,225 at 6 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 59923 reports a median household income of $44,980 against $50,139 in ZIP 59917, with per-capita income of $30,132 vs $30,837. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 18.8% in 59923 and 20.1% in 59917. Poverty rate reads 15.3% vs 18.0%, and unemployment 5.2% vs 2.9% — 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 $272,000 in 59923 versus $360,100 in 59917, with median rent of $665 and $913 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 72.0% vs 89.3%. 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.