ZIP 50439 vs ZIP 50421

This side-by-side compares ZIP 50439 (Goodell, IA) and ZIP 50421 (Belmond, IA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 50439 has a population of 289 at 3 people per square mile, while ZIP 50421 has 3,032 at 13 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 50439 reports a median household income of $94,167 against $64,438 in ZIP 50421, with per-capita income of $28,810 vs $37,538. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 24.9% in 50439 and 29.6% in 50421. Poverty rate reads 5.9% vs 16.8%, and unemployment 0.0% vs 3.2% — 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 $80,000 in 50439 versus $135,900 in 50421, with median rent of — and $818 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 93.8% vs 82.8%. 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.