ZIP 47862 vs ZIP 47860

This side-by-side compares ZIP 47862 (Montezuma, IN) and ZIP 47860 (Mecca, IN) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 47862 has a population of 1,610 at 15 people per square mile, while ZIP 47860 has 321 at 187 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 47862 reports a median household income of $65,625 against $39,706 in ZIP 47860, with per-capita income of $33,957 vs $17,681. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 16.4% in 47862 and 10.7% in 47860. Poverty rate reads 14.5% vs 21.4%, and unemployment 4.3% vs 9.2% — 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 $108,800 in 47862 versus $47,900 in 47860, with median rent of $936 and $586 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 83.7% vs 51.6%. 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.