ZIP 50174 vs ZIP 50254

This side-by-side compares ZIP 50174 (Murray, IA) and ZIP 50254 (Thayer, IA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 50174 has a population of 1,429 at 5 people per square mile, while ZIP 50254 has 282 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 50174 reports a median household income of $67,250 against $64,211 in ZIP 50254, with per-capita income of $32,152 vs $33,071. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 15.9% in 50174 and 17.6% in 50254. Poverty rate reads 23.7% vs 4.4%, and unemployment 1.5% vs 2.6% — 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 $132,400 in 50174 versus $175,000 in 50254, with median rent of $850 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 87.5% vs 100.0%. 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.