ZIP 50003 vs ZIP 50069

This side-by-side compares ZIP 50003 (Adel, IA) and ZIP 50069 (De Soto, IA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 50003 has a population of 6,594 at 22 people per square mile, while ZIP 50069 has 1,118 at 85 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 50003 reports a median household income of $103,114 against $98,056 in ZIP 50069, with per-capita income of $53,573 vs $38,455. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 43.3% in 50003 and 30.1% in 50069. Poverty rate reads 4.8% vs 6.9%, and unemployment 2.4% vs 3.0% — 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 $395,400 in 50003 versus $232,100 in 50069, with median rent of $933 and $1,089 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 75.8% vs 85.6%. 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.