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ZIP Code52257

Luzerne, IA

Benton County · Iowa · United States
Home to 247 people across 16.643 square miles.

CentralOwner-majority15 ZIPs in county

At a glance

52257 by the numbers

Every figure below comes from the 2019–2023 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, the Census Gazetteer, or is computed from those. Margins of error are shown where they matter.

Population
247
±92 · bottom 25% nationally
Median household income
$104,750
US median $70,109 · top 25%
Median home value
—
US median $207,500 · —
Median age
50.8
US median 42 years
Population density
15/mi²
bottom 25% most dense
Land area
16.643 mi²
negligible water area

Location

Where 52257 is

41.914849, -92.172388 · Census ZCTA internal pointOpen larger map →
Coordinates41.914849, -92.172388
Time zoneAmerica/Chicago
CountyBenton County
StateIowa (IA)
Land area16.643 mi²
Coordinate sourceCensus ZCTA internal point

Local time

America/Chicago

—:—:—

Current weather

Live from the National Weather Service

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Distance to major cities

Straight-line, computed from coordinates

Chicago, IL233.6 mi
Dallas, TX680.3 mi
Denver, CO686.1 mi
Atlanta, GA705.6 mi

People

Who lives in 52257

247 residents in 101 households, averaging 2.45 people per household. The largest age group is 65+ at 26.3% of residents, and 71.3% of households are families.

Age distribution

Share of residents by age band

Under 1817.4%
18-246.9%
25-3410.1%
35-446.1%
45-5412.6%
55-6420.6%
65+26.3%

Households

Composition and size

Total households101
Average household size2.45
Family households71.3%
Living alone21.8%
Median age50.8 years
Households with internet90.1%

Race & ethnicity

Census race categories. Hispanic or Latino origin is asked separately and overlaps these groups.

White100.0%
Hispanic / Latino3.2%

Income & work

What people earn in 52257

The median household here earns $104,750 a year, above the US median of $70,109, which puts 52257 ahead of 85% of American ZIP codes. 14.6% of residents live below the poverty line.

Compared to the US

This ZIP against the national median

Median household income$104,750
LowestHighest
Higher than 85% of all US ZIP codes.
Median household income$104,750 ±$43,773
Per capita income$50,702
Poverty rate14.6%
Unemployment rate0.7%
Labor force participation67.1%

Household income distribution

Share of households in each bracket

<$25k20.8%
$25-50k1.0%
$50-75k5.9%
$75-100k17.8%
$100-150k22.8%
$150-200k15.8%
$200k+15.8%

Educational attainment among residents 25 and older: 27.3% hold a bachelor's degree or higher, 96.3% finished high school.

Housing

Homes and rent in 52257

Housing cost data is suppressed for this ZIP code.

Costs

Typical values

Median home value—
Median gross rent—/mo
Median year built1938
Housing units106
Vacancy rate4.7%

Own vs. rent

Of 101 occupied units

Owner-occupied81.2%
Renter-occupied18.8%
Owner households82
Renter households19

Building types

Units by structure size

Single family100.0%

Getting to work

How 52257 commutes

66.9% of workers drove alone, and the average one-way trip takes 27.0 minutes.

Mode of transport

Workers 16 and older

Drove alone66.9%
Carpooled20.3%
Walked8.1%
Worked from home4.7%

Travel time

Mean commute 27.0 minutes

<10 min11.3%
10-1941.8%
20-294.3%
30-4431.2%
45-592.1%
60+9.2%

Overview

Understanding ZIP code 52257

ZIP code 52257 is assigned to Luzerne, IA, and falls within Benton County. Like every US postal code, it began as a mail-routing device rather than a geographic boundary — the US Postal Service groups delivery routes under a single code so carriers and sorting equipment can process mail efficiently. Today it also serves as a practical shorthand for the area itself: roughly 247 people live inside it.

At 15 residents per square mile spread over 16.643 square miles, 52257 reads as a rural area. It is a sparsely populated postal code, and density shapes almost everything else on this page — how people get to work, whether they own or rent, and what housing costs.

Household earnings run above the national median. At $104,750, 52257 sits comfortably in the upper half, ahead of 85% of them. The US median for comparison is $70,109. Bear in mind that median income describes the midpoint household, not the average — it is not pulled upward by a handful of very high earners the way a mean would be.

Living here

What life in Luzerne looks like

The building stock is dominated by detached single-family houses, which account for 100.0% of housing units here. The median construction year is 1938, making the housing here largely pre-war. At 4.7%, vacancy is low — housing here is tightly held.

The population skews older than the national median, with a median age of 50.8 against 42 nationally. The average household holds 2.45 people, and 71.3% are family households.

Getting to work takes 27.0 minutes on average one way. The dominant mode is drove alone at 66.9% of workers, while 8.1% walk. Commute patterns are one of the better proxies for how a place actually functions day to day.

Where to stay

Where to stay in Luzerne, IA

52257 covers a rural area, and accommodation within the postal code itself is likely to be sparse — perhaps a country inn, a lodge or a vacation rental rather than a conventional hotel. Widening the search radius is usually the practical approach, and it also opens up more availability at short notice.

For reference, Chicago, IL is about 233.6 miles away in a straight line, which is worth factoring in if you are comparing a stay here against one closer to the city centre.

Availability and pricing change constantly, so the live search below will give you a more accurate picture than any figure we could publish here. It opens results for this area on Booking.com.

Book a Hotel →

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Practical uses

What ZIP code 52257 is used for

Beyond addressing mail, 52257 does a lot of quiet administrative work. Retailers use it to calculate shipping and sales tax at checkout. Insurers use it to set premiums, since risk profiles vary geographically. Employers and marketers use it to define service areas. Government agencies use it to route benefits and organise reporting. If you have ever been asked for a postal code by a form that clearly does not intend to send you anything, this is why.

For anyone weighing a move, 52257 offers a compact profile of Luzerne: 247 residents, a median household income of $104,750, 27.3% of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher, and an unemployment rate of 0.7%. A handful of figures like these answer more relocation questions than most neighbourhood guides do.

One caution worth repeating: a postal code is not a neighbourhood. 52257 may cover parts of several distinct areas, and a single neighbourhood in Luzerne may be split across more than one code. Boundaries also shift as USPS adjusts delivery routes. Treat the figures here as describing a delivery area, which is what they actually measure.

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Questions

Common questions about 52257

What city is ZIP code 52257 in?
52257 serves Luzerne, Iowa, in Benton County, United States.
What is the population of 52257?
About 247 people live in ZIP code 52257, according to the US Census Bureau's 2019–2023 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. The margin of error on that figure is ±92. That works out to roughly 15 people per square mile.
What is the average income in 52257?
The median household income in 52257 is $104,750 per year, compared with a US median of $70,109. Per capita income is $50,702. Median income is more representative than an average because it isn't skewed by a small number of very high earners.
Is 52257 a good place to live?
That depends on what you're looking for, but here are the facts: 27.3% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, the unemployment rate is 0.7%, and the median age is 50.8. The average commute is 27.0 minutes. We publish the numbers and let you weigh them.
What time zone is 52257 in?
52257 observes Central Time (America/Chicago). This zone observes daylight saving time.
How big is ZIP code 52257?
ZIP code 52257 covers 16.643 square miles of land, per the US Census Bureau's 2023 Gazetteer files.
Is 52257 urban, suburban or rural?
By population density, 52257 reads as a rural area. It holds 15 people per square mile across 16.643 square miles of land. For reference, densities above 10,000 per square mile generally indicate an urban core, 1,000–3,000 is typically suburban, and under 200 is rural. These are rules of thumb rather than official designations — the Census Bureau classifies urban and rural areas by census block, not by ZIP code.
What is the commute like from 52257?
The average one-way commute from 52257 takes about 27.0 minutes. The most common way to travel is drove alone, used by 66.9% of workers aged 16 and over. Commute figures cover people who were employed and working outside the home during the survey period.
How many people work in 52257?
About 148 residents of 52257 are employed. Labor force participation stands at 67.1% and the unemployment rate is 0.7%. Note this counts residents by where they live, not by where they work — a ZIP with many offices can have far more jobs than employed residents.
Where should I stay when visiting 52257?
Accommodation in and around Luzerne, IA ranges with the character of the area. See the 'Where to stay' section on this page for local context, and use the live search there for current availability and pricing.
Does 52257 cover more than one city or county?
This page lists Luzerne as the primary place and Benton County as the county. ZIP codes follow mail delivery routes rather than municipal or county lines, so a single code can straddle boundaries, and USPS also recognises alternate acceptable city names for many codes. If you need the definitive answer for a specific street address, the USPS ZIP Code Lookup is the authority.
Can ZIP code 52257 change?
Yes. USPS adjusts ZIP codes as delivery volumes shift — codes are occasionally split, merged, retired or newly created, and boundaries move more often than most people assume. The Census Bureau's ZCTA definitions, which underpin the demographic figures on this page, are redrawn only once a decade, so the two can drift apart between censuses.

Methodology

Where this data comes from

  • Postal geography — GeoNames open postal code database (CC BY 4.0), cross-checked against the US Census Gazetteer.
  • Demographics, income, housing, commute — US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2019–2023 5-Year Estimates, ZIP Code Tabulation Area 52257. Tables B01001, B01002, B01003, B02001, B03003, B08301, B08303, B11001, B15003, B17001, B19001, B19013, B19301, B23025, B25002, B25003, B25024, B25035, B25064, B25077, B28002.
  • Land and water area — US Census Bureau 2023 Gazetteer Files.
  • Weather — NOAA National Weather Service, fetched live in your browser.
  • Map — OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
On accuracy. ACS figures are survey estimates, not counts. The margin of error shown alongside the population figure means the true value has a 90% chance of falling in that range. For small ZIP codes the error can be large relative to the estimate — treat the direction as more reliable than the exact number. This page reports data for ZCTA 52257, the Census approximation of the USPS delivery area.