ZIP 45817 vs ZIP 45868

This side-by-side compares ZIP 45817 (Bluffton, OH) and ZIP 45868 (Mount Cory, OH) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 45817 has a population of 6,736 at 40 people per square mile, while ZIP 45868 has 567 at 14 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 45817 reports a median household income of $76,848 against $95,875 in ZIP 45868, with per-capita income of $38,390 vs $37,388. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 38.0% in 45817 and 20.2% in 45868. Poverty rate reads 2.6% vs 11.5%, and unemployment 5.8% vs 9.5% — 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 $210,100 in 45817 versus $133,100 in 45868, with median rent of $795 and $1,097 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 75.9% vs 89.5%. 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.