ZIP 50651 vs ZIP 50634

This side-by-side compares ZIP 50651 (La Porte City, IA) and ZIP 50634 (Gilbertville, IA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 50651 has a population of 3,578 at 12 people per square mile, while ZIP 50634 has 713 at 708 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 50651 reports a median household income of $88,333 against $79,583 in ZIP 50634, with per-capita income of $44,049 vs $41,050. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 22.2% in 50651 and 28.9% in 50634. Poverty rate reads 8.7% vs 3.2%, and unemployment 1.2% vs 3.7% — 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 $187,600 in 50651 versus $197,400 in 50634, with median rent of $971 and $643 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 82.2% vs 86.4%. 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.