ZIP 50659 vs ZIP 50645

This side-by-side compares ZIP 50659 (New Hampton, IA) and ZIP 50645 (Ionia, IA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 50659 has a population of 5,488 at 14 people per square mile, while ZIP 50645 has 1,204 at 6 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 50659 reports a median household income of $78,153 against $64,408 in ZIP 50645, with per-capita income of $38,036 vs $33,920. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 25.8% in 50659 and 15.6% in 50645. Poverty rate reads 11.3% vs 11.7%, and unemployment 1.9% vs 0.2% — 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 $206,900 in 50659 versus $114,600 in 50645, with median rent of $737 and $924 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 77.9% vs 90.2%. 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.