ZIP 44116 vs ZIP 44126

This side-by-side compares ZIP 44116 (Rocky River, OH) and ZIP 44126 (Cleveland, OH) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 44116 has a population of 20,268 at 1,632 people per square mile, while ZIP 44126 has 16,771 at 1,400 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 44116 reports a median household income of $93,799 against $79,269 in ZIP 44126, with per-capita income of $68,162 vs $47,055. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 64.2% in 44116 and 48.7% in 44126. Poverty rate reads 5.5% vs 9.2%, and unemployment 2.6% vs 4.1% — 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 $349,300 in 44116 versus $239,000 in 44126, with median rent of $1,168 and $1,048 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 69.4% vs 70.1%. 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.