ZIP 50438 vs ZIP 50482

This side-by-side compares ZIP 50438 (Garner, IA) and ZIP 50482 (Ventura, IA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 50438 has a population of 4,159 at 12 people per square mile, while ZIP 50482 has 774 at 10 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 50438 reports a median household income of $70,350 against $98,289 in ZIP 50482, with per-capita income of $38,118 vs $44,011. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 20.2% in 50438 and 33.9% in 50482. Poverty rate reads 10.9% vs 2.8%, and unemployment 2.3% vs 0.7% — 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 $197,600 in 50438 versus $238,000 in 50482, with median rent of $744 and $1,077 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 81.4% vs 80.6%. 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.