ZIP code 59855

ZIP 59855 is a very small community in Lake County, Montana, with 430 residents counted in the Census American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, which places it #196 of 369 ranked by population — larger than 47% of them. The median age here is 40.4 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 59855 earn a median of $31,510 a year, 59.9% 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 33.3% of residents here, well above the 12.4% national rate, which is the single clearest signal in this dataset that median income here is carried by a narrow band of households.

The typical owner-occupied home in ZIP 59855 is valued at $127,200, 58.1% below the national figure, while median gross rent runs $758 a month, 46.1% below the national figure, or roughly $9,096 across a full year. A household on the local median income would put about 28.9% of gross pay toward that rent against the federal 30% cost-burden threshold, so renting here is within the standard affordability guideline. The home-price-to-income ratio works out to 4×, against roughly 3.9× nationally, so buying is harder here than in the average US market. 62.1% of occupied homes are owner-occupied versus 65% nationally, so the market leans more heavily on renters. Rent is reported gross — contract rent plus tenant-paid utilities — which is why it runs above the advertised price on a listing for the same unit.

With 430 residents, a handful of survey responses moves every median on this page. Compare ZIP 59855 against its county rather than against national figures.

All values below were released by the Census for this exact geography, with no gap-filling on our side. 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.

ZIP 59855 is tabulated inside Lake County, Montana, one of 12 ZIP areas the Census publishes for that county and 369 across Montana. This is one of the smallest tabulated ZIP areas in the state, the kind of rural route where a single subdivision or farm cluster accounts for most addresses. 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 59855 can be handled by a post office in a neighbouring county even though the tabulation area is filed here.

Against its own county, 59855 reports a median household income of $31,510, 50% below the $62,500 county median, and 51% below the $64,375 typical MT ZIP. Owner-occupied homes are valued at a median of $127,200, 64% below the county figure and 53% below the statewide ZIP median. Rent is reported gross — the contract amount plus tenant-paid utilities — at $758 a month, which is why it reads higher than the advertised rent on a listing for the same unit.

Montana charges 0% statewide, and local governments overlapping 59855 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 59855 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.