ZIP 50064 vs ZIP 50217

This side-by-side compares ZIP 50064 (Dana, IA) and ZIP 50217 (Paton, IA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 50064 has a population of 126 at 3 people per square mile, while ZIP 50217 has 631 at 4 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 50064 reports a median household income of $96,635 against $66,771 in ZIP 50217, with per-capita income of $51,858 vs $34,233. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 34.5% in 50064 and 18.8% in 50217. Poverty rate reads 2.0% vs 6.6%, and unemployment 15.3% vs 1.4% — 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 $161,500 in 50064 versus $134,700 in 50217, with median rent of $634 and $726 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 57.8% vs 78.9%. 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.