ZIP 46514 vs ZIP 46516

This side-by-side compares ZIP 46514 (Elkhart, IN) and ZIP 46516 (Elkhart, IN) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 46514 has a population of 40,263 at 403 people per square mile, while ZIP 46516 has 33,501 at 726 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 46514 reports a median household income of $65,833 against $56,492 in ZIP 46516, with per-capita income of $33,541 vs $29,779. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 20.3% in 46514 and 17.8% in 46516. Poverty rate reads 11.5% vs 16.5%, and unemployment 3.8% vs 4.4% — 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 $197,800 in 46514 versus $153,400 in 46516, with median rent of $1,113 and $1,016 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 72.0% vs 62.7%. 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.