ZIP 50025 vs ZIP 50117

This side-by-side compares ZIP 50025 (Audubon, IA) and ZIP 50117 (Hamlin, IA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 50025 has a population of 3,325 at 7 people per square mile, while ZIP 50117 has 193 at 3 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 50025 reports a median household income of $52,438 against $104,167 in ZIP 50117, with per-capita income of $39,665 vs $46,841. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 23.7% in 50025 and 9.5% in 50117. Poverty rate reads 10.5% vs 0.0%, and unemployment 1.5% 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 $118,100 in 50025 versus $222,700 in 50117, with median rent of $754 and $875 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 69.9% vs 66.7%. 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.