ZIP 50524 vs ZIP 50518

This side-by-side compares ZIP 50524 (Clare, IA) and ZIP 50518 (Barnum, IA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 50524 has a population of 521 at 4 people per square mile, while ZIP 50518 has 381 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 50524 reports a median household income of $104,375 against $97,857 in ZIP 50518, with per-capita income of $50,342 vs $45,939. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 28.3% in 50524 and 3.1% in 50518. Poverty rate reads 1.8% vs 3.6%, and unemployment 3.0% vs 0.0% — 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 $245,300 in 50524 versus $158,300 in 50518, with median rent of $656 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 92.9% vs 97.0%. 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.