ZIP 44287 vs ZIP 44866

This side-by-side compares ZIP 44287 (West Salem, OH) and ZIP 44866 (Polk, OH) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 44287 has a population of 7,559 at 44 people per square mile, while ZIP 44866 has 2,259 at 34 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 44287 reports a median household income of $73,816 against $70,208 in ZIP 44866, with per-capita income of $28,902 vs $23,747. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 18.9% in 44287 and 22.5% in 44866. Poverty rate reads 17.3% vs 32.4%, and unemployment 6.0% vs 1.7% — 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 $194,500 in 44287 versus $193,600 in 44866, with median rent of $848 and $725 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 84.8% vs 95.5%. 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.