ZIP 43836 vs ZIP 43845

This side-by-side compares ZIP 43836 (Plainfield, OH) and ZIP 43845 (West Lafayette, OH) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 43836 has a population of 128 at 315 people per square mile, while ZIP 43845 has 4,711 at 63 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 43836 reports a median household income of $51,250 against $54,177 in ZIP 43845, with per-capita income of $32,845 vs $28,261. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 7.0% in 43836 and 15.1% in 43845. Poverty rate reads 3.6% vs 24.6%, and unemployment 3.7% vs 1.8% — 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 $120,800 in 43836 versus $133,700 in 43845, with median rent of — and $695 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 78.2% vs 79.5%. 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.