ZIP 50006 vs ZIP 50227

This side-by-side compares ZIP 50006 (Alden, IA) and ZIP 50227 (Popejoy, IA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 50006 has a population of 1,676 at 5 people per square mile, while ZIP 50227 has 40 at 41 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 50006 reports a median household income of $69,783 against $38,611 in ZIP 50227, with per-capita income of $36,413 vs $14,021. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 18.7% in 50006 and 3.0% in 50227. Poverty rate reads 12.7% vs 3.7%, and unemployment 1.2% vs 0.0% — 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 $121,200 in 50006 versus $83,500 in 50227, with median rent of $632 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 74.5% vs 77.8%. 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.