ZIP 44695 vs ZIP 43988

This side-by-side compares ZIP 44695 (Bowerston, OH) and ZIP 43988 (Scio, OH) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 44695 has a population of 1,608 at 21 people per square mile, while ZIP 43988 has 2,476 at 18 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 44695 reports a median household income of $75,051 against $67,174 in ZIP 43988, with per-capita income of $35,531 vs $30,736. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 13.8% in 44695 and 15.5% in 43988. Poverty rate reads 11.6% vs 14.4%, and unemployment 5.8% vs 0.9% — 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 $215,700 in 44695 versus $120,600 in 43988, with median rent of $564 and $985 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 81.5% vs 77.8%. 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.