ZIP 50632 vs ZIP 50173

This side-by-side compares ZIP 50632 (Garwin, IA) and ZIP 50173 (Montour, IA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 50632 has a population of 1,107 at 10 people per square mile, while ZIP 50173 has 696 at 9 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 50632 reports a median household income of $71,667 against $96,250 in ZIP 50173, with per-capita income of $36,008 vs $43,839. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 15.2% in 50632 and 27.5% in 50173. Poverty rate reads 6.6% vs 5.4%, and unemployment 2.8% vs 5.3% — 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 $132,700 in 50632 versus $204,900 in 50173, with median rent of $702 and $1,099 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 86.4% vs 80.4%. 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.