ZIP 50644 vs ZIP 50641

This side-by-side compares ZIP 50644 (Independence, IA) and ZIP 50641 (Hazleton, IA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 50644 has a population of 8,648 at 23 people per square mile, while ZIP 50641 has 2,017 at 16 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 50644 reports a median household income of $80,026 against $67,115 in ZIP 50641, with per-capita income of $38,892 vs $26,410. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 23.5% in 50644 and 15.0% in 50641. Poverty rate reads 6.7% vs 20.1%, and unemployment 1.9% vs 1.7% — 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 $186,600 in 50644 versus $156,000 in 50641, with median rent of $829 and $681 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 78.5% vs 88.9%. 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.