ZIP 50148 vs ZIP 50005

This side-by-side compares ZIP 50148 (Liscomb, IA) and ZIP 50005 (Albion, IA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 50148 has a population of 432 at 9 people per square mile, while ZIP 50005 has 730 at 11 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 50148 reports a median household income of $84,083 against $76,696 in ZIP 50005, with per-capita income of $36,138 vs $34,630. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 28.5% in 50148 and 8.8% in 50005. Poverty rate reads 3.4% vs 8.2%, and unemployment 3.5% vs 2.0% — 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 $97,200 in 50148 versus $137,500 in 50005, with median rent of $1,031 and $781 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 86.6% vs 92.2%. 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.