ZIP 50278 vs ZIP 50239

This side-by-side compares ZIP 50278 (Zearing, IA) and ZIP 50239 (Saint Anthony, IA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 50278 has a population of 842 at 6 people per square mile, while ZIP 50239 has 210 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 50278 reports a median household income of $74,306 against $151,250 in ZIP 50239, with per-capita income of $35,680 vs $37,189. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 35.1% in 50278 and 7.3% in 50239. Poverty rate reads 13.7% vs 6.0%, and unemployment 0.0% 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 $193,000 in 50278 versus $354,200 in 50239, with median rent of $693 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 83.4% vs 93.3%. 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.