ZIP 45168 vs ZIP 45115

This side-by-side compares ZIP 45168 (Russellville, OH) and ZIP 45115 (Decatur, OH) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 45168 has a population of 1,607 at 19 people per square mile, while ZIP 45115 has 78 at 29 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 45168 reports a median household income of $74,167 against $49,844 in ZIP 45115, with per-capita income of $44,301 vs $25,756. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 14.1% in 45168 and 63.5% in 45115. Poverty rate reads 13.7% vs 0.0%, and unemployment 9.5% vs 0.0% — 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 $173,100 in 45168 versus — in 45115, with median rent of $1,077 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 71.0% vs 80.0%. 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.