ZIP 50223 vs ZIP 50530

This side-by-side compares ZIP 50223 (Pilot Mound, IA) and ZIP 50530 (Dayton, IA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 50223 has a population of 480 at 6 people per square mile, while ZIP 50530 has 1,205 at 7 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 50223 reports a median household income of $47,222 against $73,250 in ZIP 50530, with per-capita income of $32,914 vs $39,692. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 3.3% in 50223 and 19.3% in 50530. Poverty rate reads 2.5% vs 6.1%, and unemployment 2.0% vs 0.8% — 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 $87,200 in 50223 versus $167,900 in 50530, with median rent of — and $523 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 83.6% vs 71.2%. 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.