ZIP 52235 vs ZIP 52240

This side-by-side compares ZIP 52235 (Hills, IA) and ZIP 52240 (Iowa City, IA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 52235 has a population of 698 at 142 people per square mile, while ZIP 52240 has 32,230 at 78 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 52235 reports a median household income of $83,333 against $52,960 in ZIP 52240, with per-capita income of $41,488 vs $36,340. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 24.2% in 52235 and 47.6% in 52240. Poverty rate reads 8.4% vs 27.3%, and unemployment 3.6% vs 5.2% — 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 $240,200 in 52235 versus $242,300 in 52240, with median rent of $1,132 and $1,047 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 64.2% vs 50.1%. 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.