ZIP 50317 vs ZIP 50315

This side-by-side compares ZIP 50317 (Des Moines, IA) and ZIP 50315 (Des Moines, IA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 50317 has a population of 36,207 at 627 people per square mile, while ZIP 50315 has 35,853 at 1,382 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 50317 reports a median household income of $65,617 against $60,590 in ZIP 50315, with per-capita income of $30,592 vs $34,338. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 15.6% in 50317 and 20.1% in 50315. Poverty rate reads 14.0% vs 13.9%, and unemployment 6.7% vs 5.2% — 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 $177,600 in 50317 versus $173,200 in 50315, with median rent of $1,102 and $1,001 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 72.5% vs 61.5%. 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.