ZIP 43961 vs ZIP 43926

This side-by-side compares ZIP 43961 (Stratton, OH) and ZIP 43926 (Empire, OH) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 43961 has a population of 294 at 278 people per square mile, while ZIP 43926 has 285 at 465 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 43961 reports a median household income of $39,500 against $45,938 in ZIP 43926, with per-capita income of $29,283 vs $37,509. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 13.2% in 43961 and 5.1% in 43926. Poverty rate reads 24.4% vs 13.5%, and unemployment 10.7% vs 7.6% — 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 $60,700 in 43961 versus — in 43926, with median rent of $725 and $757 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 80.7% vs 67.7%. 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.