ZIP 50854 vs ZIP 50845

This side-by-side compares ZIP 50854 (Mount Ayr, IA) and ZIP 50845 (Diagonal, IA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 50854 has a population of 2,303 at 7 people per square mile, while ZIP 50845 has 811 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 50854 reports a median household income of $81,250 against $66,563 in ZIP 50845, with per-capita income of $38,135 vs $29,613. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 25.4% in 50854 and 23.5% in 50845. Poverty rate reads 8.6% vs 9.0%, and unemployment 2.8% vs 2.4% — 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 $161,800 in 50854 versus $100,000 in 50845, with median rent of $707 and $750 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 76.3% vs 82.6%. 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.