ZIP 46324 vs ZIP 46321

This side-by-side compares ZIP 46324 (Hammond, IN) and ZIP 46321 (Munster, IN) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 46324 has a population of 23,165 at 2,032 people per square mile, while ZIP 46321 has 23,603 at 1,204 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 46324 reports a median household income of $63,052 against $110,187 in ZIP 46321, with per-capita income of $32,820 vs $57,382. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 16.5% in 46324 and 49.9% in 46321. Poverty rate reads 10.8% vs 6.0%, and unemployment 3.8% vs 5.5% — 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 $158,800 in 46324 versus $334,300 in 46321, with median rent of $1,172 and $1,507 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 68.0% vs 87.0%. 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.