
Pottawattamie County · Iowa
ZIP code 51510
- Population
- 3,773
- Median income
- $75,037
- Median home
- $161,200
- Sales tax
- 6%
ZCTA residents
Household, past 12 months
Owner-occupied value
Iowa state rate
Quick answer
ZIP 51510 sits in Pottawattamie County, Iowa and is home to 3,773 people. Median household income is $75,037, the median home is worth $161,200 and median gross rent is $1,115. 84.3% of households own their home, and purchases are taxed at 6% (Iowa state rate).
- County
- Pottawattamie County
- State
- Iowa (IA)
- Area codes
- Not published
- Metro area
- Outside covered metros
FIPS 19155
970 ZIPs covered
No NANPA match for this ZIP
Rate jurisdiction used for tax
The numbers for 51510
American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates for this ZCTA.
- Population
- 3,773ZIP 51510 residents
- Median household income
- $75,037Past 12 months, inflation adjusted
- Median home value
- $161,200Owner-occupied units
- Median gross rent
- $1,115Rent plus utilities, monthly
- Median age
- 40.1 yrsAll residents
- Homeownership rate
- 84.3%Owner-occupied households
ZIP 51510 in context
How this area compares with national benchmarks.
ZIP 51510 is a small town in Pottawattamie County, Iowa, with 3,773 residents counted in the Census American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, which places it #167 of 970 ranked by population — larger than 82% of them. The median age here is 40.1 years against 39.1 nationally, a slightly older profile than the country as a whole. At this population the ACS sample is small, so the margin of error around every dollar figure below is wide — treat the numbers as a band, not a point, and expect them to move between annual releases without the place itself changing.
Households in ZIP 51510 earn a median of $75,037 a year, 4.5% below the national figure of $78,538. Household income here is measured before tax and pooled across everyone at the address, which is why it reads higher than typical individual earnings in the same area. Poverty reaches 15.2% of residents here, above the 12.4% national rate.
The typical owner-occupied home in ZIP 51510 is valued at $161,200, 46.9% below the national figure, while median gross rent runs $1,115 a month, 20.7% below the national figure, or roughly $13,380 across a full year. A household on the local median income would put about 17.8% of gross pay toward that rent against the federal 30% cost-burden threshold, so renting here is cheap relative to what people here earn. The home-price-to-income ratio works out to 2.1×, against roughly 3.9× nationally, so purchase prices are unusually low against local pay, the pattern in places where supply is plentiful and wage growth has been flat. 84.3% of occupied homes are owner-occupied versus 65% nationally, an owner-dominated market where rental listings are scarce and rent medians rest on a thin sample. The rent line includes utilities paid by the tenant, a definition worth remembering when comparing it against a landlord's quoted rate.
No figure on this page is estimated by us; each one comes straight from the published ACS tables for this area. Small-area estimates still carry wider margins of error than state or national figures, so check the linked ACS tables before relying on them for lending, appraisal or legal work.
Reading ZIP 51510 in context
How 51510 sits inside Pottawattamie County and Iowa.
ZIP 51510 is tabulated inside Pottawattamie County, Iowa, one of 16 ZIP areas the Census publishes for that county and 970 across Iowa. Population sits in the small-town band, typically one main street plus the addresses that feed into it. County assignment on this page follows the largest share of the ZIP's land area, which matters where a delivery route crosses a county line: mail addressed to 51510 can be handled by a post office in a neighbouring county even though the tabulation area is filed here.
Against its own county, 51510 reports a median household income of $75,037, 3% below the $77,549 county median, and 5% above the $71,182 typical IA ZIP. Owner-occupied homes are valued at a median of $161,200, 16% below the county figure and 6% above the statewide ZIP median. Rent is reported gross — the contract amount plus tenant-paid utilities — at $1,115 a month, which is why it reads higher than the advertised rent on a listing for the same unit.
Iowa charges 6% statewide, and local governments overlapping 51510 may add county, city or special-district levies on top. We publish the state floor for this ZIP rather than guessing a combined figure, because ZIP boundaries and taxing-district boundaries were drawn for different purposes and do not line up.
Everything above comes from the Census Bureau American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates for this ZIP Code Tabulation Area, with sales tax rates traced to the state revenue agency. Five-year estimates pool sixty months of responses, so they are stable enough to compare 51510 with its neighbours but always trail the current year, and any value the Census suppressed for sample size is shown as unpublished rather than filled in with a model.
Sales tax in 51510
What a purchase inside this ZIP costs at checkout.
Iowa levies 6% statewide, and counties, cities and special districts inside this ZIP can add their own local rate on top. Check the county page for the local component before you quote a price.
Affordability in this ZIP
Derived from the Census medians above — indicative, not an offer.
A rent burden above 30% is the federal threshold for cost-burdened households, and a price-to-income multiple above 4× is generally considered a stretched housing market. The mortgage figure is principal and interest only — taxes, insurance and HOA dues are extra.
How 51510 compares
ZIP 51510 against the median ZIP in Pottawattamie County and across Iowa.
| Measure | ZIP 51510 | County median | State median | vs state |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $75,037 | $77,549 | $71,182 | +5% |
| Median home value | $161,200 | $191,800 | $151,550 | +6% |
| Median gross rent | $1,115 | $861 | $808 | +38% |
| Population | 3,773 | 1,701 | 935 | +304% |
Medians are computed across the 16 ZIP areas in Pottawattamie County and the 970 ZIP areas in Iowa.
Statewide rank
Where this ZIP places among all 970 Iowa ZIP areas.
- Income
- #390
- Home value
- #416
- Population
- #167
richer than 58% of 937 state ZIPs
above 55% of 922 state ZIPs
larger than 83% of 970 state ZIPs
Comparable ZIP codes
Iowa ZIP areas with almost the same household income.
Nearby ZIP codes
Other ZIP codes filed under Pottawattamie County.
Adjacent ZIP Codes
Other ZIP codes in Pottawattamie County, Iowa.
ZIP 51510 questions
Common questions about this ZIP code.
- Where is ZIP code 51510?
- ZIP 51510 lies mostly in Pottawattamie County, Iowa. County assignment follows the largest share of land area, so a ZIP straddling a county line is filed under its dominant county.
- What sales tax do I pay in 51510?
- Iowa charges 6% statewide, plus any county, city or district rate that applies locally.
- Is 51510 expensive to live in?
- Median rent runs $1,115 a month, about 18% of median household income, and the median home is worth $161,200 — +6% against the typical Iowa ZIP.
- Is a ZCTA the same as a postal ZIP code?
- Not exactly. The Census builds ZIP Code Tabulation Areas from the ZIP codes of addresses inside each census block, so a ZCTA can differ slightly from the USPS delivery route of the same number, and PO-box-only ZIPs have no ZCTA at all.
Keep going
Related pages for this area.
Sources & transparency
- US Census Bureau, ACS 2019-2023 5-year estimates — 2019-2023 ACS 5-year — population, income, housing
- Census 2020 ZCTA-to-county relationship file — County assignment by largest land-area overlap
- Iowa Department of Revenue — Sales tax rates and local add-ons
Last reviewed December 2024. Figures are published for reference and can change; verify with the source agency before filing or contracting. How we build and check this data.