ZIP 50009 vs ZIP 50035

This side-by-side compares ZIP 50009 (Altoona, IA) and ZIP 50035 (Bondurant, IA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 50009 has a population of 16,136 at 248 people per square mile, while ZIP 50035 has 5,387 at 46 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 50009 reports a median household income of $88,447 against $134,906 in ZIP 50035, with per-capita income of $44,085 vs $46,800. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 34.4% in 50009 and 52.5% in 50035. Poverty rate reads 8.4% vs 5.5%, and unemployment 7.1% vs 1.2% — 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 $278,300 in 50009 versus $323,000 in 50035, with median rent of $1,232 and $1,289 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 70.5% vs 91.0%. 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.