ZIP 50023 vs ZIP 50021

This side-by-side compares ZIP 50023 (Ankeny, IA) and ZIP 50021 (Ankeny, IA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 50023 has a population of 27,986 at 488 people per square mile, while ZIP 50021 has 21,595 at 324 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 50023 reports a median household income of $117,826 against $99,572 in ZIP 50021, with per-capita income of $49,500 vs $53,356. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 53.4% in 50023 and 49.1% in 50021. Poverty rate reads 4.1% vs 3.9%, and unemployment 1.9% vs 2.2% — 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 $345,100 in 50023 versus $317,200 in 50021, with median rent of $1,240 and $1,393 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 71.5% vs 74.5%. 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.