ZIP 50039 vs ZIP 50167

This side-by-side compares ZIP 50039 (Bouton, IA) and ZIP 50167 (Minburn, IA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 50039 has a population of 329 at 5 people per square mile, while ZIP 50167 has 748 at 7 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 50039 reports a median household income of $86,250 against $70,167 in ZIP 50167, with per-capita income of $37,044 vs $42,592. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 13.5% in 50039 and 23.2% in 50167. Poverty rate reads 9.0% vs 3.5%, and unemployment 0.6% 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 — in 50039 versus $163,300 in 50167, with median rent of $986 and $925 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 72.4% vs 84.2%. 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.