ZIP 50312 vs ZIP 50311

This side-by-side compares ZIP 50312 (Des Moines, IA) and ZIP 50311 (Des Moines, IA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 50312 has a population of 15,339 at 1,044 people per square mile, while ZIP 50311 has 15,113 at 2,323 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 50312 reports a median household income of $92,242 against $61,957 in ZIP 50311, with per-capita income of $67,131 vs $35,633. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 61.2% in 50312 and 43.5% in 50311. Poverty rate reads 6.8% vs 18.8%, and unemployment 2.8% vs 5.7% — 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 $291,900 in 50312 versus $226,500 in 50311, with median rent of $1,074 and $1,029 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 63.7% vs 48.4%. 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.