ZIP 44855 vs ZIP 44857

This side-by-side compares ZIP 44855 (North Fairfield, OH) and ZIP 44857 (Norwalk, OH) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 44855 has a population of 1,271 at 18 people per square mile, while ZIP 44857 has 23,805 at 111 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 44855 reports a median household income of $63,125 against $64,297 in ZIP 44857, with per-capita income of $25,692 vs $33,672. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 19.1% in 44855 and 19.7% in 44857. Poverty rate reads 15.4% vs 14.6%, and unemployment 5.4% vs 5.1% — 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 $159,000 in 44855 versus $175,300 in 44857, with median rent of $979 and $820 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 82.8% vs 71.1%. 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.