ZIP 50216 vs ZIP 50277

This side-by-side compares ZIP 50216 (Panora, IA) and ZIP 50277 (Yale, IA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 50216 has a population of 2,824 at 20 people per square mile, while ZIP 50277 has 483 at 5 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 50216 reports a median household income of $79,635 against $90,625 in ZIP 50277, with per-capita income of $50,780 vs $31,324. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 31.9% in 50216 and 16.3% in 50277. Poverty rate reads 8.8% vs 8.6%, and unemployment 3.4% 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 $228,600 in 50216 versus $89,400 in 50277, with median rent of $1,102 and $775 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 86.6% vs 84.5%. 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.