ZIP 46312 vs ZIP 46323

This side-by-side compares ZIP 46312 (East Chicago, IN) and ZIP 46323 (Hammond, IN) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 46312 has a population of 29,698 at 819 people per square mile, while ZIP 46323 has 22,743 at 1,418 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 46312 reports a median household income of $42,125 against $59,688 in ZIP 46323, with per-capita income of $23,656 vs $31,403. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 10.7% in 46312 and 18.9% in 46323. Poverty rate reads 26.3% vs 14.4%, and unemployment 7.6% vs 6.5% — 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 $105,400 in 46312 versus $166,400 in 46323, with median rent of $854 and $1,274 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 42.9% vs 67.5%. 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.