ZIP 50036 vs ZIP 50212

This side-by-side compares ZIP 50036 (Boone, IA) and ZIP 50212 (Ogden, IA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 50036 has a population of 16,287 at 32 people per square mile, while ZIP 50212 has 3,131 at 9 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 50036 reports a median household income of $79,255 against $81,838 in ZIP 50212, with per-capita income of $41,184 vs $45,198. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 28.0% in 50036 and 25.9% in 50212. Poverty rate reads 6.9% vs 6.0%, and unemployment 1.7% vs 2.1% — 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 $194,400 in 50036 versus $221,300 in 50212, with median rent of $847 and $743 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 76.8% vs 86.8%. 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.