ZIP 52045 vs ZIP 52046

This side-by-side compares ZIP 52045 (Epworth, IA) and ZIP 52046 (Farley, IA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 52045 has a population of 2,589 at 21 people per square mile, while ZIP 52046 has 2,127 at 18 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 52045 reports a median household income of $91,667 against $96,151 in ZIP 52046, with per-capita income of $32,495 vs $35,847. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 25.6% in 52045 and 25.3% in 52046. Poverty rate reads 12.9% vs 2.6%, and unemployment 2.5% vs 5.1% — 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 $263,500 in 52045 versus $273,600 in 52046, with median rent of $923 and $1,095 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 79.3% vs 65.8%. 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.