ZIP 45301 vs ZIP 45434

This side-by-side compares ZIP 45301 (Alpha, OH) and ZIP 45434 (Dayton, OH) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 45301 has a population of 130 at 569 people per square mile, while ZIP 45434 has 12,163 at 447 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 45301 reports a median household income of — against $135,948 in ZIP 45434, with per-capita income of $32,007 vs $57,935. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 23.9% in 45301 and 59.9% in 45434. Poverty rate reads 0.0% vs 3.9%, and unemployment 0.0% vs 3.8% — 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 $117,700 in 45301 versus $309,700 in 45434, with median rent of — and $1,632 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 100.0% vs 91.1%. 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.