ZIP 50846 vs ZIP 50837

This side-by-side compares ZIP 50846 (Fontanelle, IA) and ZIP 50837 (Bridgewater, IA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 50846 has a population of 1,123 at 5 people per square mile, while ZIP 50837 has 376 at 3 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 50846 reports a median household income of $74,200 against $63,000 in ZIP 50837, with per-capita income of $48,788 vs $44,498. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 17.3% in 50846 and 17.9% in 50837. Poverty rate reads 3.4% vs 9.4%, and unemployment 5.5% vs 0.0% — 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 $108,800 in 50846 versus $116,700 in 50837, with median rent of $839 and $625 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 67.7% vs 95.6%. 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.