ZIP 52563 vs ZIP 52550

This side-by-side compares ZIP 52563 (Hedrick, IA) and ZIP 52550 (Delta, IA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 52563 has a population of 1,583 at 5 people per square mile, while ZIP 52550 has 585 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 52563 reports a median household income of $98,438 against $57,745 in ZIP 52550, with per-capita income of $35,406 vs $30,972. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 26.3% in 52563 and 5.9% in 52550. Poverty rate reads 13.0% vs 9.1%, and unemployment 3.9% vs 5.3% — 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 $130,400 in 52563 versus $110,200 in 52550, with median rent of $675 and $1,038 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 82.1% vs 88.3%. 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.