ZIP 47226 vs ZIP 47203

This side-by-side compares ZIP 47226 (Clifford, IN) and ZIP 47203 (Columbus, IN) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 47226 has a population of 202 at 753 people per square mile, while ZIP 47203 has 25,806 at 129 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 47226 reports a median household income of $58,750 against $72,112 in ZIP 47203, with per-capita income of $31,442 vs $41,837. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 9.5% in 47226 and 34.9% in 47203. Poverty rate reads 14.5% vs 10.2%, and unemployment 5.7% vs 4.0% — 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 $125,900 in 47226 versus $244,100 in 47203, with median rent of $776 and $953 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 42.0% vs 78.4%. 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.