ZIP 47917 vs ZIP 47921

This side-by-side compares ZIP 47917 (Ambia, IN) and ZIP 47921 (Boswell, IN) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 47917 has a population of 491 at 5 people per square mile, while ZIP 47921 has 1,078 at 10 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 47917 reports a median household income of $66,250 against $100,455 in ZIP 47921, with per-capita income of $32,264 vs $43,490. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 22.4% in 47917 and 16.1% in 47921. Poverty rate reads 28.0% vs 20.0%, and unemployment 4.1% vs 0.3% — 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 $165,000 in 47917 versus $165,000 in 47921, with median rent of — and $864 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 94.3% vs 81.1%. 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.