ZIP 50461 vs ZIP 50454

This side-by-side compares ZIP 50461 (Osage, IA) and ZIP 50454 (Little Cedar, IA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 50461 has a population of 5,613 at 13 people per square mile, while ZIP 50454 has 127 at 3 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 50461 reports a median household income of $68,886 against $63,864 in ZIP 50454, with per-capita income of $42,287 vs $25,330. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 26.8% in 50461 and 21.8% in 50454. Poverty rate reads 9.8% vs 6.6%, and unemployment 1.3% vs 0.0% — 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 $180,400 in 50461 versus — in 50454, with median rent of $722 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 78.9% vs 80.2%. 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.