ZIP 44276 vs ZIP 44270

This side-by-side compares ZIP 44276 (Sterling, OH) and ZIP 44270 (Rittman, OH) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 44276 has a population of 1,906 at 39 people per square mile, while ZIP 44270 has 8,890 at 165 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 44276 reports a median household income of $86,583 against $63,650 in ZIP 44270, with per-capita income of $34,344 vs $32,639. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 19.2% in 44276 and 19.4% in 44270. Poverty rate reads 12.0% vs 12.6%, and unemployment 1.4% vs 6.6% — 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 $231,300 in 44276 versus $170,200 in 44270, with median rent of $878 and $786 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 86.3% vs 72.4%. 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.