ZIP 47906 vs ZIP 47909

This side-by-side compares ZIP 47906 (West Lafayette, IN) and ZIP 47909 (Lafayette, IN) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 47906 has a population of 66,972 at 191 people per square mile, while ZIP 47909 has 39,373 at 132 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 47906 reports a median household income of $53,103 against $68,035 in ZIP 47909, with per-capita income of $31,335 vs $34,143. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 63.9% in 47906 and 31.8% in 47909. Poverty rate reads 28.6% vs 13.1%, and unemployment 3.7% vs 2.8% — 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 $323,200 in 47906 versus $222,800 in 47909, with median rent of $1,217 and $1,127 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 43.5% vs 66.0%. 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.