ZIP 50501 vs ZIP 50569

This side-by-side compares ZIP 50501 (Fort Dodge, IA) and ZIP 50569 (Otho, IA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 50501 has a population of 29,078 at 72 people per square mile, while ZIP 50569 has 836 at 15 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 50501 reports a median household income of $66,888 against $44,375 in ZIP 50569, with per-capita income of $34,794 vs $38,840. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 22.1% in 50501 and 15.9% in 50569. Poverty rate reads 14.0% vs 12.5%, and unemployment 5.5% vs 1.3% — 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 $153,500 in 50501 versus $96,900 in 50569, with median rent of $796 and $665 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 67.6% vs 77.7%. 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.