ZIP 50457 vs ZIP 50479

This side-by-side compares ZIP 50457 (Meservey, IA) and ZIP 50479 (Thornton, IA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 50457 has a population of 441 at 5 people per square mile, while ZIP 50479 has 684 at 5 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 50457 reports a median household income of $47,250 against $68,750 in ZIP 50479, with per-capita income of $25,733 vs $35,464. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 10.2% in 50457 and 21.0% in 50479. Poverty rate reads 17.9% vs 8.7%, and unemployment 0.4% vs 1.2% — 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 $90,800 in 50457 versus $121,100 in 50479, with median rent of $631 and $839 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 77.8% vs 87.2%. 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.