ZIP 44001 vs ZIP 44053

This side-by-side compares ZIP 44001 (Amherst, OH) and ZIP 44053 (Lorain, OH) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 44001 has a population of 20,769 at 234 people per square mile, while ZIP 44053 has 18,256 at 594 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 44001 reports a median household income of $90,139 against $67,484 in ZIP 44053, with per-capita income of $43,694 vs $34,958. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 29.3% in 44001 and 21.9% in 44053. Poverty rate reads 5.9% vs 16.5%, and unemployment 5.5% vs 3.0% — 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 $234,500 in 44001 versus $206,300 in 44053, with median rent of $1,062 and $898 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 87.5% vs 66.6%. 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.