ZIP 46409 vs ZIP 46407

This side-by-side compares ZIP 46409 (Gary, IN) and ZIP 46407 (Gary, IN) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 46409 has a population of 8,932 at 967 people per square mile, while ZIP 46407 has 12,656 at 1,155 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 46409 reports a median household income of $44,667 against $28,526 in ZIP 46407, with per-capita income of $25,568 vs $23,147. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 11.4% in 46409 and 12.9% in 46407. Poverty rate reads 30.0% vs 39.1%, and unemployment 12.4% vs 10.6% — 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 $78,800 in 46409 versus $60,200 in 46407, with median rent of $1,195 and $868 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 44.5% vs 41.2%. 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.