ZIP 50062 vs ZIP 50163

This side-by-side compares ZIP 50062 (Melcher Dallas, IA) and ZIP 50163 (Melcher Dallas, IA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 50062 has a population of 741 at 9 people per square mile, while ZIP 50163 has 858 at 698 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 50062 reports a median household income of $51,146 against $73,618 in ZIP 50163, with per-capita income of $29,719 vs $31,623. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 19.6% in 50062 and 20.9% in 50163. Poverty rate reads 16.6% vs 9.0%, and unemployment 4.3% vs 7.5% — 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 $198,100 in 50062 versus $97,800 in 50163, with median rent of $784 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 78.0% vs 88.3%. 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.