ZIP 44274 vs ZIP 44281

This side-by-side compares ZIP 44274 (Sharon Center, OH) and ZIP 44281 (Wadsworth, OH) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 44274 has a population of 225 at 201 people per square mile, while ZIP 44281 has 29,954 at 242 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 44274 reports a median household income of — against $89,131 in ZIP 44281, with per-capita income of $74,910 vs $47,638. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 14.3% in 44274 and 42.7% in 44281. Poverty rate reads 5.4% vs 6.4%, and unemployment 2.2% vs 2.5% — 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 — in 44274 versus $278,800 in 44281, with median rent of — and $1,071 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 70.5% vs 74.2%. 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.