ZIP 50106 vs ZIP 50078

This side-by-side compares ZIP 50106 (Gilman, IA) and ZIP 50078 (Ferguson, IA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 50106 has a population of 1,039 at 6 people per square mile, while ZIP 50078 has 126 at 191 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 50106 reports a median household income of $101,193 against $52,500 in ZIP 50078, with per-capita income of $49,447 vs $26,081. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 21.1% in 50106 and 14.8% in 50078. Poverty rate reads 4.7% vs 11.0%, and unemployment 3.7% 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 $118,900 in 50106 versus $75,600 in 50078, with median rent of $678 and $1,125 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 92.2% vs 82.5%. 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.