ZIP 46405 vs ZIP 46403

This side-by-side compares ZIP 46405 (Lake Station, IN) and ZIP 46403 (Gary, IN) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 46405 has a population of 11,746 at 522 people per square mile, while ZIP 46403 has 12,601 at 588 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 46405 reports a median household income of $60,881 against $45,991 in ZIP 46403, with per-capita income of $27,763 vs $32,932. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 7.8% in 46405 and 26.2% in 46403. Poverty rate reads 12.2% vs 24.3%, and unemployment 16.3% vs 11.4% — 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 $139,200 in 46405 versus $177,600 in 46403, with median rent of $1,144 and $966 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 75.3% vs 48.8%. 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.