ZIP 52219 vs ZIP 52214

This side-by-side compares ZIP 52219 (Prairieburg, IA) and ZIP 52214 (Central City, IA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 52219 has a population of 178 at 149 people per square mile, while ZIP 52214 has 3,090 at 13 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 52219 reports a median household income of $45,000 against $86,786 in ZIP 52214, with per-capita income of $47,441 vs $44,548. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 4.0% in 52219 and 22.5% in 52214. Poverty rate reads 9.2% vs 10.7%, and unemployment 9.4% vs 3.2% — 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 $97,700 in 52219 versus $234,600 in 52214, with median rent of — and $924 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 89.1% vs 83.5%. 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.