ZIP 50261 vs ZIP 50038

This side-by-side compares ZIP 50261 (Van Meter, IA) and ZIP 50038 (Booneville, IA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 50261 has a population of 2,211 at 13 people per square mile, while ZIP 50038 has 205 at 26 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 50261 reports a median household income of $155,278 against $82,188 in ZIP 50038, with per-capita income of $57,159 vs $30,223. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 42.5% in 50261 and 17.6% in 50038. Poverty rate reads 1.8% vs 4.3%, and unemployment 0.9% vs 3.0% — 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 $374,100 in 50261 versus — in 50038, with median rent of $1,069 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 85.9% 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.