ZIP 46788 vs ZIP 46785

This side-by-side compares ZIP 46788 (Spencerville, IN) and ZIP 46785 (Saint Joe, IN) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 46788 has a population of 3,260 at 35 people per square mile, while ZIP 46785 has 1,542 at 24 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 46788 reports a median household income of $101,553 against $63,250 in ZIP 46785, with per-capita income of $34,657 vs $24,024. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 25.2% in 46788 and 6.5% in 46785. Poverty rate reads 5.2% vs 7.8%, and unemployment 8.1% vs 10.4% — 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 $285,200 in 46788 versus $163,300 in 46785, with median rent of $1,799 and $855 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 89.8% vs 84.6%. 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.