ZIP 50126 vs ZIP 50041

This side-by-side compares ZIP 50126 (Iowa Falls, IA) and ZIP 50041 (Bradford, IA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 50126 has a population of 6,853 at 20 people per square mile, while ZIP 50041 has 92 at 84 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 50126 reports a median household income of $55,185 against — in ZIP 50041, with per-capita income of $35,830 vs $30,892. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 22.2% in 50126 and 0.0% in 50041. Poverty rate reads 8.8% vs 0.0%, and unemployment 7.4% 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 $133,300 in 50126 versus — in 50041, with median rent of $870 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 63.6% vs 24.4%. 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.