ZIP 50217 vs ZIP 50064

This side-by-side compares ZIP 50217 (Paton, IA) and ZIP 50064 (Dana, IA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 50217 has a population of 631 at 4 people per square mile, while ZIP 50064 has 126 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 50217 reports a median household income of $66,771 against $96,635 in ZIP 50064, with per-capita income of $34,233 vs $51,858. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 18.8% in 50217 and 34.5% in 50064. Poverty rate reads 6.6% vs 2.0%, and unemployment 1.4% vs 15.3% — 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 $134,700 in 50217 versus $161,500 in 50064, with median rent of $726 and $634 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 78.9% vs 57.8%. 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.