ZIP 50109 vs ZIP 50111

This side-by-side compares ZIP 50109 (Granger, IA) and ZIP 50111 (Grimes, IA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 50109 has a population of 2,762 at 49 people per square mile, while ZIP 50111 has 9,407 at 132 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 50109 reports a median household income of $118,669 against $120,769 in ZIP 50111, with per-capita income of $54,226 vs $49,191. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 48.2% in 50109 and 51.9% in 50111. Poverty rate reads 2.0% vs 4.3%, and unemployment 1.5% vs 1.9% — 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 $370,100 in 50109 versus $308,800 in 50111, with median rent of $843 and $1,251 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 85.7% vs 71.7%. 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.