ZIP 50002 vs ZIP 50048

This side-by-side compares ZIP 50002 (Adair, IA) and ZIP 50048 (Casey, IA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 50002 has a population of 1,297 at 5 people per square mile, while ZIP 50048 has 861 at 4 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 50002 reports a median household income of $79,071 against $54,688 in ZIP 50048, with per-capita income of $49,721 vs $37,306. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 19.3% in 50002 and 22.7% in 50048. Poverty rate reads 4.9% vs 24.9%, and unemployment 3.6% vs 5.3% — 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 $237,700 in 50002 versus $101,600 in 50048, with median rent of $893 and $814 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 79.9% vs 75.5%. 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.