ZIP 47421 vs ZIP 47451

This side-by-side compares ZIP 47421 (Bedford, IN) and ZIP 47451 (Oolitic, IN) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 47421 has a population of 27,831 at 59 people per square mile, while ZIP 47451 has 1,228 at 255 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 47421 reports a median household income of $68,108 against $60,938 in ZIP 47451, with per-capita income of $38,096 vs $30,738. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 22.2% in 47421 and 25.3% in 47451. Poverty rate reads 11.6% vs 3.9%, and unemployment 1.9% vs 3.8% — 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 $188,100 in 47421 versus $126,400 in 47451, with median rent of $835 and $814 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 80.0% vs 68.4%. 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.