ZIP 51646 vs ZIP 50848

This side-by-side compares ZIP 51646 (New Market, IA) and ZIP 50848 (Gravity, IA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 51646 has a population of 763 at 5 people per square mile, while ZIP 50848 has 378 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 51646 reports a median household income of $73,625 against $68,250 in ZIP 50848, with per-capita income of $32,939 vs $38,018. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 19.3% in 51646 and 15.2% in 50848. Poverty rate reads 11.7% vs 15.2%, and unemployment 1.4% 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 $120,300 in 51646 versus $158,800 in 50848, with median rent of $832 and $775 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 85.0% vs 79.0%. 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.