ZIP 44131 vs ZIP 44134

This side-by-side compares ZIP 44131 (Independence, OH) and ZIP 44134 (Cleveland, OH) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 44131 has a population of 20,469 at 492 people per square mile, while ZIP 44134 has 38,800 at 1,561 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 44131 reports a median household income of $100,594 against $68,625 in ZIP 44134, with per-capita income of $52,296 vs $36,691. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 39.1% in 44131 and 25.6% in 44134. Poverty rate reads 3.9% vs 10.3%, and unemployment 2.1% vs 6.8% — 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 $270,600 in 44131 versus $166,100 in 44134, with median rent of $1,407 and $1,132 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 92.9% vs 77.6%. 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.