ZIP 47959 vs ZIP 47980

This side-by-side compares ZIP 47959 (Monon, IN) and ZIP 47980 (Reynolds, IN) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 47959 has a population of 2,822 at 16 people per square mile, while ZIP 47980 has 1,096 at 8 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 47959 reports a median household income of $48,750 against $60,962 in ZIP 47980, with per-capita income of $21,114 vs $29,148. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 6.4% in 47959 and 13.5% in 47980. Poverty rate reads 20.4% vs 7.1%, and unemployment 4.6% vs 3.4% — 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 $129,700 in 47959 versus $171,500 in 47980, with median rent of $894 and $886 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 72.2% vs 81.3%. 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.