ZIP 50157 vs ZIP 52211

This side-by-side compares ZIP 50157 (Malcom, IA) and ZIP 52211 (Brooklyn, IA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 50157 has a population of 762 at 5 people per square mile, while ZIP 52211 has 2,624 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 50157 reports a median household income of $115,000 against $73,922 in ZIP 52211, with per-capita income of $61,786 vs $33,631. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 29.2% in 50157 and 16.7% in 52211. Poverty rate reads 6.6% vs 19.0%, and unemployment 0.4% vs 6.5% — 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 $157,500 in 50157 versus $200,300 in 52211, with median rent of $638 and $927 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 82.4% vs 74.4%. 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.