ZIP 50839 vs ZIP 50841

This side-by-side compares ZIP 50839 (Carbon, IA) and ZIP 50841 (Corning, IA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 50839 has a population of 34 at 19 people per square mile, while ZIP 50841 has 2,824 at 5 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 50839 reports a median household income of $48,750 against $66,875 in ZIP 50841, with per-capita income of $28,902 vs $48,809. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 8.7% in 50839 and 27.1% in 50841. Poverty rate reads 30.4% vs 11.1%, and unemployment 0.0% vs 4.2% — 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 — in 50839 versus $116,700 in 50841, with median rent of — and $763 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 82.1% vs 74.7%. 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.