ZIP 50511 vs ZIP 50517

This side-by-side compares ZIP 50511 (Algona, IA) and ZIP 50517 (Bancroft, IA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 50511 has a population of 7,137 at 22 people per square mile, while ZIP 50517 has 1,051 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 50511 reports a median household income of $66,642 against $61,875 in ZIP 50517, with per-capita income of $38,596 vs $41,916. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 26.8% in 50511 and 12.0% in 50517. Poverty rate reads 5.5% vs 10.8%, and unemployment 1.9% vs 0.5% — 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 $180,800 in 50511 versus $124,700 in 50517, with median rent of $890 and $536 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 75.1% vs 77.0%. 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.