ZIP 45612 vs ZIP 45681

This side-by-side compares ZIP 45612 (Bainbridge, OH) and ZIP 45681 (South Salem, OH) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 45612 has a population of 5,303 at 18 people per square mile, while ZIP 45681 has 1,689 at 17 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 45612 reports a median household income of $53,500 against $49,510 in ZIP 45681, with per-capita income of $28,090 vs $24,239. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 13.1% in 45612 and 10.6% in 45681. Poverty rate reads 13.4% vs 15.2%, and unemployment 2.7% vs 9.8% — 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 $147,300 in 45612 versus $143,200 in 45681, with median rent of $773 and $693 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 77.2% vs 79.4%. 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.