ZIP 45812 vs ZIP 45859

This side-by-side compares ZIP 45812 (Alger, OH) and ZIP 45859 (Mc Guffey, OH) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 45812 has a population of 1,943 at 19 people per square mile, while ZIP 45859 has 495 at 144 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 45812 reports a median household income of $44,045 against $51,250 in ZIP 45859, with per-capita income of $28,540 vs $26,837. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 9.3% in 45812 and 4.8% in 45859. Poverty rate reads 22.5% vs 16.9%, and unemployment 1.0% vs 15.9% — 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 $137,100 in 45812 versus $77,900 in 45859, with median rent of $886 and $775 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 82.2% vs 84.6%. 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.