ZIP 50478 vs ZIP 50424

This side-by-side compares ZIP 50478 (Thompson, IA) and ZIP 50424 (Buffalo Center, IA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 50478 has a population of 775 at 4 people per square mile, while ZIP 50424 has 1,482 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 50478 reports a median household income of $48,750 against $59,091 in ZIP 50424, with per-capita income of $39,890 vs $33,088. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 35.0% in 50478 and 26.2% in 50424. Poverty rate reads 6.1% vs 7.9%, and unemployment 2.6% vs 6.8% — 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 $93,200 in 50478 versus $114,500 in 50424, with median rent of $752 and $628 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 80.7% vs 70.8%. 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.