ZIP 51250 vs ZIP 51036

This side-by-side compares ZIP 51250 (Sioux Center, IA) and ZIP 51036 (Maurice, IA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 51250 has a population of 8,249 at 44 people per square mile, while ZIP 51036 has 726 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 51250 reports a median household income of $94,119 against $122,841 in ZIP 51036, with per-capita income of $37,713 vs $50,649. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 41.3% in 51250 and 25.4% in 51036. Poverty rate reads 2.9% vs 4.3%, and unemployment 1.1% 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 $294,000 in 51250 versus $248,600 in 51036, with median rent of — and $381 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 78.4% vs 91.9%. 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.