ZIP 50048 vs ZIP 50164

This side-by-side compares ZIP 50048 (Casey, IA) and ZIP 50164 (Menlo, IA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 50048 has a population of 861 at 4 people per square mile, while ZIP 50164 has 652 at 5 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 50048 reports a median household income of $54,688 against $80,188 in ZIP 50164, with per-capita income of $37,306 vs $34,666. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 22.7% in 50048 and 15.3% in 50164. Poverty rate reads 24.9% vs 3.1%, and unemployment 5.3% vs 12.0% — 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 $101,600 in 50048 versus $151,000 in 50164, with median rent of $814 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 75.5% vs 93.5%. 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.