Every ZIP code in the United States, with weather, radar, trivia and the numbers behind it. Five digits since 1963!

ZIP stands for Zone Improvement Plan. The codes went live on July 1, 1963.The lowest ZIP code is 00501 — the IRS in Holtsville, New York.The highest ZIP code is 99950, in Ketchikan, Alaska.Type 07734 into a calculator and turn it upside down: hELLO. It is Keansburg, New Jersey.12345 belongs to one company: General Electric in Schenectady, New York.The first digit is a region: 0 is New England and New Jersey, 9 is the West Coast, Alaska and Hawaii.Mr. ZIP, the cartoon mailman, was the mascot that sold the idea to America.ZIP+4 arrived in 1983 and can narrow a ZIP down to one side of one block.A ZIP code is a mail route, not a place: plenty of them cross county and even state lines.Play ZIP Hunt: guess the secret ZIP code of the day in six tries.
zipcodes.pro — ZIP/50861

50861

ZIP 50861 is Shannon City, Iowa, mostly in Union County; area code 641; Central time.

Type
Standard
Time zone
America/Chicago
County
Union +1 more
Metro area
none
Population
311
Coordinates
40.9084, -94.2559
☼ Live from 50861 — Shannon City, IA

Weather right now

Asking the National Weather Service…

NEXRAD radar
Finding the nearest radar…
Local time: —

Where 50861 is

Approximate ZIP boundary (Census ZCTA 2020). ZIP codes are mail routes, not areas, so the shape shown is the Census tabulation area that approximates it.

★ Weird and wonderful facts about 50861
  • 🔢 Type 50861 into a pocket calculator and turn it upside down: IgBOS — not quite a word, sorry.
  • ➕ As a number, 50,861 = 181 × 281. Its digits add up to 20, a total 2,586 other ZIP codes share.
  • 💾In binary, the way a computer stores it: 1100011010101101
  • 🏠 Its numerical neighbours: 50860 (Redding, IA, 21 mi away) and 50862 (Sharpsburg, IA, 22 mi away).
  • 🔄 Backwards, 50861 becomes 16805 — and that is a real ZIP code: State College, PA, 856 miles away.
  • 👥 51 other ZIP codes are made of exactly the same digits (01568, 01586, 01865, 05681, 05861, 06518, …). The farthest-flung twin is 01865 in Nutting Lake, MA, 1,187 miles away.
  • 🧭 Farther north than 66% of all ZIP codes, and farther west than 66%.
  • 🎯239 miles east of the geographic center of the Lower 48, near Lebanon, Kansas.
  • 🌏 Dig straight through the Earth from 50861 and you would come out at 40.91°S, 85.74°E — 952 miles from Port-aux-Français, French Southern Territories, the nearest big city to that spot.
  • ☀Longest day of the year: 15h 07m of daylight. Shortest: 9h 14m.
  • 📏 At 40.5 square miles of land, 50861 is bigger than 54% of ZIP codes — room for about 31 Central Parks.
🌙 The sky over 50861 today
  • Working out the sun…
🌋 Shake report
  • Checking the USGS…

Source: USGS.

People and housing

Population311This ZIP311
Households132This ZIP132
Housing units159This ZIP159
Median age46.6This ZIP46.6Iowa38.6US 38.9
Median household income$63,125This ZIP$63,125Iowa$75,059US $80,734
Median gross rent$950This ZIP$950Iowa$972US $1,413
Bachelor's degree or higher26.8%This ZIP26.8%
Mean commute15.9 minThis ZIP15.9 min
Population density7.7 / sq miThis ZIP7.7 / sq mi

Business and tax activity

Business establishments3This ZIP3
Employees9This ZIP9
Annual payroll$304,000This ZIP$304,000
Tax returns filed110This ZIP110
Total adjusted gross income$5,363,000This ZIP$5,363,000

Land area

Land area40.54 sq miThis ZIP40.54 sq mi
Water area0.23 sq miThis ZIP0.23 sq mi

Counties 50861 spans

A ZIP code is a mail route and ignores county lines. Shares are by overlapping land area.

CountyShare of this ZIP
Union County 68.6%
Ringgold County 31.4%

Other place names in 50861

Census places whose land this ZIP code overlaps. The Postal Service may accept other city names in an address, too.

ZIP codes near 50861

ZIPCityDistance
50831 Arispe, IA 3.4 mi
50863 Tingley, IA 5.9 mi
50845 Diagonal, IA 8.2 mi
50830 Afton, IA 8.6 mi
50074 Ellston, IA 9.6 mi
50254 Thayer, IA 11.7 mi
50801 Creston, IA 14.0 mi
50842 Cromwell, IA 14.1 mi
50840 Clearfield, IA 14.4 mi
50851 Lenox, IA 14.7 mi

Find every ZIP code within 10 miles of 50861 →

Questions about this ZIP code

Where is ZIP code 50861?

50861 is in Shannon City, Iowa, in Union County. Its published point location is 40.9084, -94.2559.

What county is 50861 in?

50861 spans 2 counties: Union County and Ringgold County. Most of it falls in Union County, measured by overlapping land area — the county holding the most land in a ZIP code is not always the one holding the most residents.

What area code is 50861?

Shannon City uses area code 641, from NANPA's telephone records.

What time zone is 50861 in?

50861 uses America/Chicago.

How many people live in 50861?

About 311 people live in ZIP code 50861, in 132 households, at 7.7 people per square mile. These are American Community Survey 5-year estimates for the ZIP Code Tabulation Area, not a headcount.

What is the median household income in 50861?

$63,125 a year, against $75,059 across Iowa.

What ZIP codes are near 50861?

The closest are 50831 (3.4 mi), 50863 (5.9 mi), 50845 (8.2 mi), 50830 (8.6 mi) and 50074 (9.6 mi).

Is 50861 a PO Box ZIP code?

50861 is a standard ZIP code. A normal ZIP code with street delivery.

Download or cite

Cite this page

zipcodes.pro. “50861 ZIP Code — Shannon City, Iowa (Union County).” Data release 2026-10-12. Retrieved 2026-10-20. https://zipcodes.pro/zip/50861

Machine-readable version of these facts:

curl https://zipcodes.pro/zip/50861.json

Underlying data is public domain or openly licensed — sources, vintages and licences.