ZIP 50243 vs ZIP 50244

This side-by-side compares ZIP 50243 (Sheldahl, IA) and ZIP 50244 (Slater, IA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 50243 has a population of 244 at 171 people per square mile, while ZIP 50244 has 1,813 at 32 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 50243 reports a median household income of $80,938 against $120,313 in ZIP 50244, with per-capita income of $30,280 vs $50,849. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 31.1% in 50243 and 42.1% in 50244. Poverty rate reads 5.1% vs 3.1%, and unemployment 12.7% vs 0.9% — 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 $184,700 in 50243 versus $250,800 in 50244, with median rent of — and $895 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 93.0% vs 86.8%. 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.