ZIP 50473 vs ZIP 56051

This side-by-side compares ZIP 50473 (Scarville, IA) and ZIP 56051 (Kiester, MN) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 50473 has a population of 268 at 3 people per square mile, while ZIP 56051 has 703 at 9 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 50473 reports a median household income of $50,227 against $54,286 in ZIP 56051, with per-capita income of $31,732 vs $35,990. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 20.0% in 50473 and 11.3% in 56051. Poverty rate reads 8.2% vs 18.2%, and unemployment 1.0% vs 4.0% — 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 $140,500 in 50473 versus $68,100 in 56051, with median rent of — and $900 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 83.0% vs 83.7%. 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.