ZIP 50321 vs ZIP 50312

This side-by-side compares ZIP 50321 (Des Moines, IA) and ZIP 50312 (Des Moines, IA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 50321 has a population of 7,846 at 258 people per square mile, while ZIP 50312 has 15,339 at 1,044 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 50321 reports a median household income of $80,351 against $92,242 in ZIP 50312, with per-capita income of $56,160 vs $67,131. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 42.4% in 50321 and 61.2% in 50312. Poverty rate reads 10.4% vs 6.8%, and unemployment 6.6% vs 2.8% — 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 $320,500 in 50321 versus $291,900 in 50312, with median rent of $1,128 and $1,074 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 59.8% vs 63.7%. 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.