ZIP 50072 vs ZIP 50070

This side-by-side compares ZIP 50072 (Earlham, IA) and ZIP 50070 (Dexter, IA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 50072 has a population of 2,671 at 12 people per square mile, while ZIP 50070 has 1,489 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 50072 reports a median household income of $111,250 against $92,083 in ZIP 50070, with per-capita income of $43,671 vs $49,371. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 39.3% in 50072 and 26.7% in 50070. Poverty rate reads 3.5% vs 4.9%, and unemployment 3.5% vs 3.1% — 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 $303,900 in 50072 versus $213,300 in 50070, with median rent of $784 and $855 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 85.5% vs 84.3%. 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.