ZIP 44281 vs ZIP 44274

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