ZIP 52620 vs ZIP 52626

This side-by-side compares ZIP 52620 (Bonaparte, IA) and ZIP 52626 (Farmington, IA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 52620 has a population of 938 at 7 people per square mile, while ZIP 52626 has 1,346 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 52620 reports a median household income of $79,327 against $59,342 in ZIP 52626, with per-capita income of $45,289 vs $29,038. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 21.8% in 52620 and 17.6% in 52626. Poverty rate reads 5.7% vs 19.9%, and unemployment 6.3% vs 4.9% — 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 $227,500 in 52620 versus $105,600 in 52626, with median rent of $605 and $729 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 70.6% vs 79.4%. 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.