ZIP 52224 vs ZIP 52229

This side-by-side compares ZIP 52224 (Dysart, IA) and ZIP 52229 (Garrison, IA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 52224 has a population of 2,016 at 8 people per square mile, while ZIP 52229 has 721 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 52224 reports a median household income of $69,805 against $86,500 in ZIP 52229, with per-capita income of $36,849 vs $37,316. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 23.4% in 52224 and 18.3% in 52229. Poverty rate reads 10.5% vs 22.3%, and unemployment 1.7% vs 3.1% — 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 $177,000 in 52224 versus $151,000 in 52229, with median rent of $717 and $906 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 84.6% vs 76.1%. 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.