ZIP 47362 vs ZIP 47356

This side-by-side compares ZIP 47362 (New Castle, IN) and ZIP 47356 (Middletown, IN) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 47362 has a population of 30,243 at 80 people per square mile, while ZIP 47356 has 5,781 at 41 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 47362 reports a median household income of $60,258 against $67,049 in ZIP 47356, with per-capita income of $29,719 vs $38,348. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 14.8% in 47362 and 20.6% in 47356. Poverty rate reads 15.1% vs 6.2%, and unemployment 4.2% vs 3.0% — 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 $146,800 in 47362 versus $167,800 in 47356, with median rent of $786 and $846 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 72.4% vs 80.3%. 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.