ZIP 50482 vs ZIP 50428

This side-by-side compares ZIP 50482 (Ventura, IA) and ZIP 50428 (Clear Lake, IA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 50482 has a population of 774 at 10 people per square mile, while ZIP 50428 has 9,384 at 31 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 50482 reports a median household income of $98,289 against $81,037 in ZIP 50428, with per-capita income of $44,011 vs $55,526. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 33.9% in 50482 and 32.5% in 50428. Poverty rate reads 2.8% vs 7.4%, and unemployment 0.7% vs 2.3% — 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 $238,000 in 50482 versus $283,400 in 50428, with median rent of $1,077 and $817 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 80.6% vs 76.6%. 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.