ZIP 50149 vs ZIP 50155

This side-by-side compares ZIP 50149 (Lorimor, IA) and ZIP 50155 (Macksburg, IA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 50149 has a population of 964 at 5 people per square mile, while ZIP 50155 has 255 at 3 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 50149 reports a median household income of $59,167 against $33,125 in ZIP 50155, with per-capita income of $30,728 vs $34,539. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 22.0% in 50149 and 9.2% in 50155. Poverty rate reads 15.6% vs 6.4%, and unemployment 2.8% vs 13.0% — 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 $136,200 in 50149 versus $95,000 in 50155, with median rent of $836 and $794 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 82.4% vs 83.7%. 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.