ZIP 52531 vs ZIP 50150

This side-by-side compares ZIP 52531 (Albia, IA) and ZIP 50150 (Lovilia, IA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 52531 has a population of 5,976 at 11 people per square mile, while ZIP 50150 has 984 at 7 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 52531 reports a median household income of $73,896 against $63,516 in ZIP 50150, with per-capita income of $35,685 vs $37,046. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 23.2% in 52531 and 10.1% in 50150. Poverty rate reads 9.5% vs 9.0%, and unemployment 2.9% vs 2.6% — 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 $162,100 in 52531 versus $124,500 in 50150, with median rent of $773 and $750 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 80.7% vs 83.1%. 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.