ZIP 50837 vs ZIP 50853

This side-by-side compares ZIP 50837 (Bridgewater, IA) and ZIP 50853 (Massena, IA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 50837 has a population of 376 at 3 people per square mile, while ZIP 50853 has 702 at 4 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 50837 reports a median household income of $63,000 against $65,208 in ZIP 50853, with per-capita income of $44,498 vs $38,091. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 17.9% in 50837 and 19.8% in 50853. Poverty rate reads 9.4% vs 18.2%, and unemployment 0.0% vs 3.1% — 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 $116,700 in 50837 versus $169,100 in 50853, with median rent of $625 and $584 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 95.6% vs 85.3%. 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.