ZIP code 43350: Sparta

Drinking-water compliance

A health-based violation is a contaminant above its limit or a treatment rule not followed; monitoring, reporting and public-notice violations are paperwork. Lead is the 90th-percentile result across sampled homes, not a reading at any one tap.

Source: EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (Envirofacts, pulled September 2026), violations and lead and copper sampling for the system that serves most of this ZIP · EPA SDWIS (Envirofacts) · EPA ECHO

Byproducts and contaminants

TTHM

55.9 µg/L yearly mean in 2019, the last year in the file (limit 80); worst yearly mean 60.9, highest single sample 95.7; 256 samples from 2012 to 2019

HAA5

35.8 µg/L yearly mean in the last year sampled (limit 60); worst yearly mean 37.8, highest sample 58; 256 samples

Plants

Del-co Water Company, Inc. runs 4 plants and EPA's file lumps their entry-point samples under one system, so the nitrate, arsenic, radioactivity, solvent, farm-chemical and metal rows cover all 4, not only Thomas E. Steward Water Treatment Plant (Knox County / "East" wellfield), which serves this ZIP; a sample over a limit may be from another plant

Nitrate

highest of 225 samples was 2.3 mg/L as nitrogen (2015; limit 10); 1.86 in 2019, the last year sampled. Nitrate above 10 is unsafe for infants

Arsenic

not detected in 31 samples (limit 10)

Solvents and fuels

benzene, carbon tetrachloride, 1,2-dichloroethane, trichloroethylene, tetrachloroethylene, vinyl chloride not detected in 28 samples

Bacteria

1 of 11,459 routine tap samples (0.01%) tested positive for total coliform in 2012 to 2019, 1 of 1,440 in 2019; E. coli found in 1 of 2 tap samples tested for it. Coliform itself is a warning sign; E. coli means sewage or manure reached the water

Farm chemicals

atrazine in 55 of 57 samples, highest 1.55 µg/L (limit 3); alachlor in 1 of 57 samples, highest 0.6 µg/L (limit 2)

Metals

barium in 23 of 31 samples, highest 34 µg/L (limit 2,000); chromium, cadmium, mercury, selenium, thallium not detected in 31 samples

EPA's file stops at 2019; Ohio EPA's Drinking Water Watch has newer results. Byproducts are judged on running yearly averages at each sampling site, so one high sample is not a violation. Nitrate and arsenic are measured where water enters the pipes.

Source: EPA Six-Year Review 4 compliance monitoring data, 2012 to 2019 (TTHM, HAA5 and coliform from distribution-system samples of Del-co Water Company, Inc.; nitrate, arsenic, radionuclides, solvents, herbicides and metals from the entry points of the same system); non-detects counted as zero

PFAS

UCMR 5, all plants

11 samples in 2023 to 2024 at the entry point to the distribution system: PFBA 10.7, PFHxA 8.7, PFPeA 6.3 ng/L

Ohio EPA 2020

3 plants tested (latest 2020-10): nothing detected for the six PFAS tested

Ohio EPA latest

3 plants sampled by Ohio EPA, most recently 2024-04 (Ohio EPA statewide sampling status map)

Lithium: found in 2 of 10 UCMR 5 samples at Del-co Water Company, Inc., highest 12.9 µg/L (detections averaged 12.6), last sampled 2024. Lithium is unregulated; EPA's draft health reference level is 10 µg/L, and it occurs naturally in deep groundwater, so well systems in the northwest run highest.

PFAS are the forever chemicals from firefighting foam, plating shops and non-stick coatings. One sample above 4 ng/L is not a violation; compliance is judged on running annual averages, and systems are adding carbon filters ahead of the 2029 deadline. Results are for water leaving the plant, not your tap.

Source: EPA UCMR 5 occurrence data (final release, August 2026) and Ohio EPA statewide PFAS sampling 2019 to 2021 and its current status map, for the system that serves most of this ZIP; EPA SDWIS record OH2101412; results in nanograms per litre (parts per trillion) · Ohio EPA PFAS

Lead at the tap

Latest period

0.8 ppb in the sampling period ending 2024-12

Highest since 2016

5.9 ppb (2018-12); never above 10 ppb in 3 periods

Service lines

56,197 inventoried: 9 lead, 19 galvanized needing replacement, 14,186 unknown, 41,983 not lead (reported all required service line types)

Children: this ZIP is not on the Ohio Department of Health's high-risk list for childhood lead testing; children on Medicaid or in pre-1978 housing with peeling paint should still be tested.

Housing age: 60% of the homes here were built before 1960 and 31% before 1940, when lead service lines, lead solder and lead paint were common; 60% predate 1980 (Census ACS 2020 to 2024).

Systems sample taps in the homes most likely to have lead pipes or solder; the 90th-percentile figure means nine in ten sampled homes were at or below it. Lead comes from the service line and the house plumbing, not the source water, so a low system result does not clear an old house. The action level drops from 15 to 10 ppb in 2027, and every lead line must be replaced within ten years of that.

Source: EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System lead and copper 90th-percentile results (Envirofacts) and EPA's service line inventory dashboard (2026 Q2), for Del-co Water Company, Inc. (OH2101412), the system that serves most of this ZIP · ODH childhood lead testing · ODH high-risk ZIP list (CCBH PDF) · Ohio EPA lead and copper · H2Ohio

Fluoride and treatment

Treatment on file: corrosion control, coagulation and settling, chlorine disinfection, iron and manganese removal, lime softening, powdered activated carbon, sand or media filtration.

Measured fluoride: 1.04 mg/L on average at the plant's entry points in 2019 (in the range dentists aim for); samples ran from 0.68 to 1.2 mg/L across 31 samples in 2012 to 2019 (EPA compliance monitoring). Natural fluoride in Ohio well water runs from a trace to over 2 mg/L in parts of the northwest.

The health department counts 96.9% of Morrow County residents on community water as receiving fluoridated water.

Ohio law (ORC 6109.20, 1969) makes systems serving 5,000 or more people fluoridate unless the water already carries 0.8 mg/L naturally or the community exempted itself by ordinance or referendum in the months after the law passed; smaller systems choose for themselves. The treatment list is what each system registered with EPA and can lag a plant upgrade.

Source: CDC My Water's Fluoride, fluoridation status of each system as reported by the Ohio Department of Health; EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System treatment table for Del-co Water Company, Inc. (OH2101412); EPA Six-Year Review 4 compliance monitoring, 2012 to 2019; Ohio Department of Health fluoridation report (DataOhio) for the county share · EPA SDWIS search

Algal toxins

Raw water

no microcystin detected at the intake

Treated water

never detected after treatment

Monitoring

631 samples from 2016 to 2026, latest 2026-08-24

Raw-water readings show what the plant has to remove; any detection at the intake triggers weekly paired raw and treated-water testing until two clean weeks, and carbon, ozone or chlorine destroys the toxin in nearly every case. The ten-day advisory levels for treated water are 0.3 µg/L for children under six and 1.6 µg/L for everyone else. Since November 2022 the bloom season runs June through November (sampling continues into early December), with treated water tested every two weeks the rest of the year; the 2016 to 2022 rule monitored year-round and stepped testing up to three days a week when raw water passed 5 µg/L.

Source: Ohio EPA public water system harmful algal bloom monitoring (HAB data and map, DrinkingWater/HAB service, fetched 2026-09-09), total microcystins by ELISA in raw and treated water, for the system that serves most of this ZIP · Ohio EPA HAB information for public water systems

Groundwater

Under the surface

till over sand and gravel, part of the Johnstown Complex Aquifer (complex setting); wells there yield 5 - 25 gallons a minute, deposits > 100 ft thick

Bedrock

Cuyahoga Group, yielding 5 - 25 gpm to a well

Setting

Sand and Gravel; water table 75-100 ft down, 2-4 in/yr recharge, clay loam soil (hydrogeologic setting 7Ja); pesticide index 98

Well logs

15 drilled wells on file (118.1 per 1,000 residents), median 107 ft deep, 10 gallons a minute median test yield, water 58 ft down

Aquifers

20% of wells in bedrock, 80% in sand, gravel and other unconsolidated material; typical well drilled 1963; uses: Domestic 13

Wellhead protection

1% of this ZIP lies inside Ohio EPA source water protection areas for 1 public water system; the largest, Highland Pizza And Ice Cream PWS, is rated moderate susceptibility in a till moraine setting

Geology

nearest verified sinkhole 18.5 mi away (Ohio EPA and ODNR Geological Survey)

Water table

K-4 OH monitoring well (ODNR), 6 mi away: water 9.2 ft below ground on 2026-07-13; averaged 7.2 ft in 2015 to 2019 and 10.1 ft over the latest year, so the table is running about 2.9 ft lower; range 3 to 12 ft over 4,212 readings since 2015

Nitrate risk

EPA researchers put the chance that a public water system in the Dry Creek subwatershed exceeds the nitrate limit at 19% if it draws on groundwater and 40% if it draws on rivers or lakes, judged from land use, geology and past results (EnviroAtlas nitrate violation index; the typical Ohio subwatershed scores 23% for groundwater and 39% for surface water)

Quality monitoring

Ohio EPA's nearest ambient groundwater monitoring well is Fredericktown Wellfield (Knox County), 10.1 mi away: 133 ft deep in sand and gravel (Kokosing Bur Vly aquifer); wells there yield over 500 gallons a minute; sampled every three years. 7 active wells within 15 mi

Vulnerability rates how easily a spill at the surface reaches the aquifer, not whether anything has. Well logs include abandoned and replaced wells, so counts overstate wells in use; a private well owner is the only one who tests it.

Source: ODNR Division of Geological Survey, Groundwater Vulnerability (DRASTIC) map (polygon at the ZIP's population-weighted center), karst feature inventory, and the Ohio water well log database (logs inside the ZIP boundary) · ODNR Geological Survey · Ohio EPA GIS services · USGS water data

Aquifer exposure

Karst

no karst-prone bedrock under the population center; no mapped sinkhole inside the ZIP; nearest verified sinkhole 18.5 mi from the center

Wellhead protection

1% of the ZIP lies inside Ohio EPA source water protection areas for 1 public water system; the largest, Highland Pizza And Ice Cream PWS, is rated moderate susceptibility in a till moraine setting

Vulnerability index

DRASTIC 77 (ODNR; higher means a spill at the surface reaches the aquifer more easily)

Sensitive settings are outwash plains, buried valleys, karst and shallow bedrock, mapped statewide by Ohio EPA for siting decisions. Exposure is not contamination: it says how quickly a spill, a failing tank or heavy manure would reach the water table, not whether one has.

Source: Ohio EPA Sensitive Geologic Settings and karst geology layers (geology/Geology), ODNR Geological Survey karst and spring points, Ohio EPA source water protection areas (DrinkingWater/SWAP); shares by ZIP boundary overlay, karst by a point query at the population-weighted center · Ohio EPA geology layers · Ohio EPA source water protection (SWAP) · ODNR Geological Survey

Sewage treatment

Size

0.7 million gallons a day design flow

Compliance

2 of the last 12 quarters with a violation; currently in violation (not significant); 1 effluent limit exceedance in 3 years

Sludge source: nearest Fredericktown STP, 10.5 mi away; 0 within 10 miles (Ohio EPA).

State water loans: no Ohio EPA revolving-fund project inside this ZIP; the nearest is Interstate 71 - State Route 95 Sewer Extension (Morrow County, 2015, $929,012), 7.1 mi away.

Sewer planning: 48% of it is assigned to Village of Sparta as the designated sewage management agency under Ohio's Clean Water Act section 208 plan (generic prescriptions); 52% has no designated agency, which usually means septic systems. The 208 plan decides who may build and extend sewers.

Stormwater: this ZIP lies outside Ohio EPA's regulated MS4 areas, so its storm drains and ditches carry runoff without a municipal stormwater permit.

Where a home's sewage actually goes depends on the sewer district, and rural homes are on septic systems the county health department permits; the nearest plant is a proxy. Violations range from paperwork to raw discharges.

Source: EPA Enforcement and Compliance History Online (ECHO), Clean Water Act NPDES facilities with a POTW component in Ohio; straight-line miles from the ZIP's population-weighted center. Compliance data lag about a quarter.; other Clean Water Act permit holders inside the ZIP from the same service · EPA ECHO · EPA CSO inventory · Ohio EPA GIS services · EPA Facility Finder

Stream health

Uses failing

aquatic life 73% of the land, recreation (bacteria) 73%, fish consumption not assessed here

Causes listed

bacteria (pathogens) (73%), sediment and silt (73%)

Cleanup plans

0% of the land is under a TMDL pollution budget

Watersheds here: Mile Run-Kokosing River (not supporting); Dry Creek (fully supporting).

Nearest stream assessment (Ohio EPA): Mile Run @ Track Off Of Sparta Rd. (Cr 11) on the Mile Creek, 4.7 mi away, draining 9 square miles: full attainment of its warmwater use; fish IBI 50 of 60 (2007); bugs rated marginally good; habitat QHEI 57.5 of 100. 0 within 3 miles, 14 within 10. Scores above about 40 (IBI), 36 (ICI) and 60 (QHEI) mean a healthy warmwater stream.

Stream designations (Ohio EPA water quality standards): no designated stream segment crosses this ZIP. Nearest specially protected stream: the Kokosing river, 4.9 mi away, an Outstanding State Water. Exceptional and coldwater streams are the state's healthiest; modified and limited-resource waters are channelized or ditched.

Proposed for 2026: the nearest reach Ohio EPA proposes to add to the antidegradation tiers is the Kokosing River (Armstrong run (RM 28.04) to the mouth), 10.2 mi away, as Outstanding State Water for recreation.

Farm chemicals (USGS estimate, 2018): farms in Morrow County used about 164 metric tons of pesticide active ingredient, 403 kg per square mile, 32nd of Ohio's 88 counties. Largest: glyphosate 61 t, atrazine 23 t, metolachlor 19 t, acetochlor 9 t, 2,4-D 6 t. Atrazine, the corn herbicide, is the pesticide that most often shows up in Ohio tap water after spring rains; this county used 23 t of it.

Farms (2022 Census of Agriculture): 821 farms work 145,232 acres of Morrow County, with 46.9% of its land in cropland, 177 acres to a farm. 6,694 cattle, 21,054 hogs, 44,643 laying hens, 1,335 broilers, 181 turkeys; 36,152 acres of corn and 64,647 of soybeans. Sales $121 million, 22% from animals and animal products. Manure and fertilizer from farms like these carry the phosphorus and nitrogen behind Ohio's algae and nitrate problems; withheld figures protect individual farms.

A watershed unit fails when any sampled stream in it fails; ditches in flat farm country fail on habitat and nutrients, city creeks on bacteria and sediment. Ohio's own report is at epa.ohio.gov; the EPA link on each unit's report page has the sampling detail.

Source: EPA ATTAINS (Ohio EPA 2024 Integrated Report), watershed assessment units overlaid on the ZIP boundary in an equal-area projection; shares are of the ZIP's land area · EPA ATTAINS · Ohio integrated report · Ohio sport fish advisory · Ohio EPA advisory map

Watershed

• Walhonding100% of residentsDrains to the Ohio River

H2Ohio: nearest project Perfect Creek Treatment Wetlands, inland flow-through wetland, funded 2022, completed, 11 mi away: The Perfect Creek Treatment Wetlands project created a wetland treatment train to receive, treat, and temporarily retain water from Perfect Creek and Dry Run du...; 0 within 5 miles, 2 within 15. H2Ohio pays for wetlands, farm practices and lead line work to cut the nutrients behind Lake Erie's algae.

Watershed grants: nearest "Armstrong Run (Kokosing Scenic River) Restoration Project" by City of Mount Vernon (stream restoration/dam removal, Section 319), 10.4 mi away; 0 within 10 miles (Ohio EPA project lists: Section 319 and GLRI through fiscal 2023, SWIF through 2017).

Road salt: nearest went to City of Mount Vernon (equipment, 2026-2027), 11.3 mi away. H2Ohio pays for brine makers, calibrated spreaders and covered salt barns so less chloride reaches streams and wells.

The population center sits in the Dry Creek subwatershed; its water runs on through Armstrong Run-Kokosing River, then Delano Run-Kokosing River, then Indianfield Run-Kokosing River.

In 2015 Morrow County drew about 3 million gallons a day of fresh water (USGS): 0.6 million for public supply (100% from wells, 7,100 people served at 46 gallons a person a day at home); 28,000 residents drew their own well water.

EnviroAtlas, Dry Creek: 100 to 200 acres in the Conservation Reserve Program; 4,915 acres of grain crops; 99 miles of streams (2.9 per square mile); water use of 280 thousand gallons a day for homes; 41 inches of rain and snow a year; 10.3 kg of nitrogen per hectare falling from the air each year; farm nitrogen of 1.4 kg per hectare a year as manure and 21.5 kg as synthetic fertilizer; 3% of the farmland sits on drained hydric soils; potentially restorable wetlands on farmland cover 7% of the subwatershed; 1.8% of the land is paved or roofed; 68% of the stream banks keep natural cover (EPA EnviroAtlas national metrics, 2010s vintages).

Stream permits: none of this ZIP drains to streams Ohio EPA rates high quality, where a project that fills, pipes or crosses a stream needs an individual Ohio EPA 401 water quality review; all drains toward high-quality waters farther down and might qualify for the Army Corps' blanket nationwide permits after a field screening (Ohio EPA 401 nationwide permit eligibility map).

Source: USGS Watershed Boundary Dataset (HUC-8 subbasins by resident share, HUC-12 subwatershed at the population center) · 2020 census blocks · USGS watershed boundaries · EPA EnviroAtlas · Ohio EPA 401 map · USGS county water use 2015 · ODNR H2Ohio projects · ODNR Lake Erie Coastal Management Area · Ohio EPA source water protection (SWAP) · Ohio EPA nine-element plans · Ohio EPA 319, GLRI and SWIF project lists · Ohio EPA chloride reduction grants · NOAA Lake Erie water levels

Homes and income

Household income

$70,583 median

Income spread

16% of households earn under $25,000 a year, 16% $100,000 or more and 5.5% $200,000 or more

Rent

$983 a month, median gross

Owner-occupied

82% of 55 occupied homes

Typical home built

1955

Value spread

income per person $30,165 a year

Moved in

the typical owner moved in in 2006, the typical renter in 2015

Median age

33.1 years

Commute

28 minutes each way on average, 11% work from home

Housing stock

60% single-family detached, 29.1% mobile homes

Vacancy

0.0% of 55 housing units are vacant

Fair market rent

$1,380 a month for a two-bedroom (one-bedroom $1,150, three-bedroom $1,650): HUD's fiscal 2026 small-area fair market rent, the benchmark for housing vouchers in the Columbus metro area

Subsidized housing

no public housing, tax-credit or HUD-assisted multifamily property inside this ZIP

Banks

no bank branch inside this ZIP; the nearest, U.S. Bank National Association, is 5.8 mi from its center (FDIC); no credit union branch (NCUA)

Strain

14.5% of households have no vehicle; the median renter spends 14.2% of income on rent; the median owner with a mortgage spends 17.5% of income on housing costs

Five-year survey averages centered on 2022; small ZIPs carry wide margins of error, and owner-estimated values run below sale prices in a rising market.

Source: Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020 to 2024 five-year estimates by ZIP Code Tabulation Area; Eviction Lab (Princeton) tract estimates 2016 to 2018, weighted to the ZIP; HUD fiscal 2026 Small Area Fair Market Rents; IRS Statistics of Income ZIP data, tax year 2022; Mapping Inequality (University of Richmond), HOLC maps 1935 to 1940; HUD eGIS open data for subsidized housing; FDIC BankFind branch locations; NCUA credit union branch list, March 2026 · Census ACS · Eviction Lab · HUD data · IRS ZIP statistics · Mapping Inequality · HUD eGIS open data · FDIC BankFind · NCUA call report data

Houses and neighborhoods

Homes

61 one-family houses, 3 two-family houses, 3 three-family houses, 5 manufactured homes; also 11 other residential parcels

Age

72% built before 1950, 85% before 1978 (1978: the year lead paint was banned for housing)

Size

median living area 1,474 sq ft; median lot 0.23 acres (condominiums left out)

Value

median appraised value $112,800 (tax year 2025): the county auditor's market value for property tax, not a sale price

Sales

4 sales in the 12 months to Sep 12, 2026 (median $140,000); 12 sales in 5 years (median $117,500, $78 a sq ft). Counted: sales the auditor marked valid or has not yet reviewed (sales marked not valid, and unreviewed ones under $10,000, are left out), single-parcel sales of homes, one per house (its newest)

Owners

6% company-owned

Neighborhoods

0 neighborhoods and 0 subdivisions (details load below)

Show neighborhoods and houses

The houses load when you search, pick a filter or press the button (the pack for this part of the state, a few megabytes). Zoomed in on the map, each house of this ZIP draws as a dot that follows the search and filters.

Source: county auditors' appraisal records: Morrow County Auditor (as of Sep 12, 2026); residential parcels placed in ZIPs by the atlas; owner names are not carried · Allen County Auditor · Ashland County Auditor · Auglaize County Auditor · Butler County Auditor · Champaign County Auditor · Clark County Auditor · Clinton County Auditor · Coshocton County Auditor · Crawford County Auditor · Fairfield County Auditor · Fayette County Auditor · Franklin County Auditor · Greene County Auditor · Guernsey County Auditor · Hardin County Auditor · Highland County Auditor · Hocking County Auditor · Holmes County Auditor · Jackson County Auditor · Knox County Auditor · Licking County Auditor · Logan County Auditor · Lorain County Auditor · Madison County Auditor · Marion County Auditor · Miami County Auditor · Montgomery County Auditor · Morrow County Auditor · Muskingum County Auditor · Perry County Auditor · Pickaway County Auditor · Richland County Auditor · Ross County Auditor · Stark County Auditor · Tuscarawas County Auditor · Union County Auditor · Wyandot County Auditor · OGRIP Ohio Statewide Parcels · Athens County subdivisions, town plats and additions (Athens County Auditor GIS) · Cincinnati Community Council Boundaries · Cincinnati Statistical Neighborhood Approximations (SNA), 2020 · Clark County recorded subdivision plats · Clermont County recorded subdivision plats · Cleveland Heights neighborhoods · Cleveland Statistical Planning Areas (SPAs) / neighborhoods · Columbus Communities · Columbus Community Planning Areas · Coshocton County subdivisions (recorded plats and town additions) · Dayton neighborhoods · Dublin Civic Associations · Franklin County recorded subdivision and condominium plats · Hamilton (Ohio) 17Strong neighborhoods · Lima neighborhood associations · Logan County subdivision and condominium plats · Madison County subdivisions (recorded plats) · Morgan County subdivision, addition and town plats · Muskingum County subdivision plats · Perry County subdivisions and town additions (recorded plat names on the county engineer's parcels) · Richland County subdivisions and condominiums (recorded plats, county GIS) · Sandusky neighborhoods · Stark County recorded allotment (subdivision) and condominium plats · Toledo neighborhood associations · Union County subdivision plats

Building permits

Mix

494 single-family houses, 0 units in buildings of five or more, 0 in duplexes and small buildings

Value

$129.8 million of construction at the value declared on the permits

By year

2016: 25, 2017: 47, 2018: 46, 2019: 46, 2020: 40, 2021: 73, 2022: 73, 2023: 43, 2024: 56, 2025: 45, 2026 through July: 28

Caveat

1 of the ten years had fewer than 12 months reported by the permit office; the Census Bureau estimates the missing months, so those counts are partly or wholly imputed

Survey counts are permits issued, not houses finished, and cover new residential construction only: additions, remodels, garages and commercial buildings are not in the survey. Values are the applicants' estimates. Where a city runs the building department for its township neighbours, the city's figure covers them too.

Source: Census Bureau Building Permits Survey, annual place files 2016 to 2025 (new privately owned residential units authorized), for the permit-issuing jurisdiction where most of this ZIP's residents live · Census building permits

Home prices

On the market (Realtor.com, August 2026): median asking price $309,700; 1 active listing, 4 new this month; listings spend a median 4 days on the market; 0% of listings have cut their price. Realtor.com flags this ZIP's figures this month as low quality (1 active listing), so the asking price is not a market median.

FHFA publishes no price index for this ZIP: too few repeat sales or refinance appraisals on conforming mortgages to measure.

Source: Federal Housing Finance Agency House Price Index, annual five-digit ZIP all-transactions series (repeat sales and refinance appraisals of conforming-mortgage homes, developmental, not seasonally adjusted), latest release; Zillow Home Value Index (mid-tier, smoothed, seasonally adjusted) and Zillow Observed Rent Index by ZIP, Zillow Research · FHFA house price index · Zillow research data · Realtor.com data

Local taxes

Highland Local

23.6 effective mills (23.8 gross); $1,649 a year on a $200,000 home. Operating 15.0, bonds 3.6, improvements 0.9, inside millage 4.0.

Municipal income tax

Sparta none (77% of residents); township residents outside a city or village pay none. Charged on wages and business profits where you work and, after credits, where you live.

School district income tax

Highland Local 0.5%. Voted by the district and collected with the state income tax.

Sales tax

7.25% combined rate in Morrow County: Ohio's 5.75% plus county and transit levies.

A mill is $1 per $1,000 of taxable value, and taxable value is 35% of market value. Effective rates fall as values rise because Ohio holds most voted levies to the dollars first approved. County, municipal or township, library, park and vocational-school levies are added on the same bill and are not counted here.

Source: Ohio Department of Taxation, Aggregate Property Tax Rates by School District, tax year 2025 (composite DTE 515); weighted by the share of this ZIP's residents in each district; The Finder rate tables for municipal, school district and sales taxes, September 2026 · Ohio tax data series · The Finder

Who delivers the electricity

• AEP Ohio investor-owned100% of residentsAmerican Electric Power (AEP)

AEP Ohio outages, 2024: the average customer lost power for 272 minutes (158 minutes leaving out major storm days), about 1.1 interruptions a year.

AEP Ohio standard service offer price, 2024: 19.33 cents per kWh, about $174 a month for the average home, for the 550,768 residential customers who have not chosen a supplier; the other 788,464 pay AEP Ohio 10.75 cents per kWh for delivery plus their supplier's price (EIA-861).

AEP Ohio solar and meters, 2024: 11,606 customers run net-metered solar (158.9 MW, 11,036 of them homes); 79% of its 1,541,883 meters are two-way smart (AMI) meters, 21% drive-by automated reads (EIA-861).

Energy burden: households here spend an average 4.3% of income on electricity, gas and other fuels (about $3,569 a year against $82,067 of income); the 33% of households below 80% of the area median income spend 10.7%, and 30% of households fall in groups averaging 6% or more, the usual line for a high burden (DOE LEAD Tool, 2022 update, built from 2018 to 2022 survey data).

Source: PUCO certified territories via ODOT · HIFLD retail service territories (EIA Form 861) · 2020 census blocks · outage statistics from EIA-861 Reliability, 2024 with 2023 where a utility skipped a year (SAIDI and SAIFI, IEEE 1366) · residential prices from EIA-861 Sales to Ultimate Customers, net metering and advanced meters from the EIA-861 files of the same years · DOE LEAD Tool 2022 household energy burden by tract, apportioned into ZIPs by block population · PUCO electricity · ODOT territories service · EIA-861 · DOE LEAD Tool · HIFLD retail service territories

Natural gas here

87% of the 55 homes here heat with utility gas.

Utility gas 87%Electricity 0%Propane or LP 0%Oil, wood, other 13%

• Columbia Gas of Ohio regulated utility100% of residents, main companyNiSource Inc.

Territories overlap here: Ohio Cumberland Gas Company also maps service in this ZIP.

Pipes under the street: Columbia Gas of Ohio reported 20,620 miles of distribution main to PHMSA for 2025, 64% plastic and 6.6% cast iron or bare steel (the leak-prone materials); 3,271 hazardous leaks repaired in 2025.

PUCO lists 5 companies operating in Morrow County: Bright Energy (Consolidated Cooperative), Columbia Gas of Ohio, Knox Energy Cooperative Association, Inc., Northeast Ohio Natural Gas Corporation, Ohio Cumberland Gas Company.

Source: PUCO gas distribution companies by county, April 2026 · federal (EIA) territory polygons, 2016 · Census ACS 2020 to 2024 heating fuel · PUCO natural gas · HIFLD

Power plants

Nearest plant of any size: Progress Drive Generation Station, 18.3 mi (oil, 4 MW).

0 plants within 10 miles totalling 0 MW.

Capacity is net summer capacity in megawatts (EIA), not output; a solar farm's 200 MW runs a quarter of the hours a gas plant's would. Small peaking engines and landfill-gas units count as plants.

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration Form 860 plant inventory via HIFLD (February 2025); USGS U.S. Wind Turbine Database and U.S. Large-Scale Solar Photovoltaic Database; NRC emergency planning zones around Perry and Davis-Besse (residents inside the roughly 10-mile zone counted by 2020 census block); straight-line miles from the ZIP's population-weighted center · EIA-860 · HIFLD · USGS wind turbines · USGS solar · NRC emergency planning zones

Gas transmission pipelines

No transmission line crosses this ZIP.

Transmission lines run at hundreds of pounds of pressure and are inspected under federal rules; the distribution mains that actually feed homes are a separate, denser network not shown here. By mileage in this EIA layer Ohio's map is dominated by Columbia Gas Transmission and East Ohio Gas's intrastate lines; Texas Eastern and the Rover and Nexus lines built for Utica shale gas are among the other large interstate systems.

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration Natural Gas Interstate and Intrastate Pipelines layer (data last updated July 2025, pulled September 2026), via the ArcGIS Online copy maintained by Esri's Federal User Community; straight-line miles from the ZIP's population-weighted center; lengths clipped to the ZIP boundary in an equal-area projection · EIA U.S. Energy Atlas · ArcGIS Online item

Incumbent telephone company

• Brightspeed100% of residentsBrightspeed (formerly CenturyLink)

Source: PUCO incumbent local exchange carrier service areas · 2020 census blocks · PUCO telephone

Internet

Of 55 households, 82% subscribe to cable, fiber or DSL, 6% rely on a cellular plan only, and 13% have no internet at home.

Source: FCC Broadband Data Collection, June 2024 (availability) · Census ACS 2020 to 2024 (subscriptions) · Ookla Open Data, fixed-network speed tests by tile, 2025 Q2 (measured speeds) · FCC broadband map · Ookla open data · Census ACS

Cell signal

• AT&T4G 100% · 5G 100%
• T-Mobile4G 100% · 5G 100%
• Verizon4G 100% · 5G 0%

Registered towers: 0 antenna structures registered with the FCC inside this ZIP and 2 within 3 miles of its center; the nearest is a 315-foot lattice tower 0.7 mi away. Only structures over 200 feet or near airports must register, so most cell sites on short poles, water towers and rooftops are not counted.

Coverage as the carriers report it to the FCC for outdoor use at a stationary spot, by land area rather than by residents; indoor signal and rural hollows can be worse.

Source: FCC Mobile Broadband Data Collection via Esri Living Atlas (layer last updated November 2025, i.e. the June 30, 2025 filing round), carrier-reported outdoor coverage by hexagon, summed over the ZIP's land; FCC Antenna Structure Registration database, September 2026; Ookla open data mobile tiles, 2026 Q2 · FCC broadband map · FCC antenna registration · Ookla open data

EV charging

No public station inside this ZIP; the nearest of any kind is Bonecutter Hollow - Tesla Supercharger, 6.9 mi. 0 stations within 5 miles of the ZIP's population center, 0 with DC fast charging.

Level 2 adds roughly 20 to 30 miles of range an hour; DC fast charging fills most cars in under an hour. Listings are operator-reported and lag new openings and closures.

Source: NREL Alternative Fuels Data Center via the U.S. DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics (public, open electric stations, the posts at one site merged, restricted-access sites excluded), and chargers in neighbouring states near the border; straight-line miles from the ZIP's population-weighted center; station list as of May 29, 2026 · Alternative Fuels Data Center · BTS Alternative Fueling Stations (NTAD)

Public transit

0 stops inside this ZIP; the nearest stop is 11 mi from the population center.

Only fixed-route systems that publish a GTFS feed appear; dial-a-ride and demand-response services do not, and a handful of small fixed-route systems publish no feed at all. The nearest stop may be across the state line, and the out-of-state set may be incomplete. Half a mile is roughly a ten-minute walk.

Source: USDOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics, National Transit Map stops (National Transportation Atlas Database, 2025 vintage, fetched September 2026), plus the Springfield, Lancaster-Fairfield, Knox County Transit, WayGo and BGSU Shuttle GTFS feeds; share of 2020 census block population within half a mile of a stop · BTS National Transit Map · BTS transportation atlas · Springfield City Area Transit GTFS feed · Lancaster-Fairfield Public Transit GTFS feed · Knox County Transit GTFS feed · WayGo GTFS feed · BGSU Shuttle GTFS feed

Walkability

Street grid

2 intersections per square mile, long blocks and country roads

Transit

no stop within three-quarters of a mile in the EPA's 2020 transit file

Mix of uses

employment mix 0.87 and mix of homes and job types 0.48 on the EPA's 0 to 1 scales, where 1 is the most varied

Car-free households

14.5% of households have no vehicle (Census ACS 2020 to 2024)

The index scores every block group on intersection density, distance to transit and how mixed its jobs and homes are, then ranks them against the whole country. It measures the street pattern, not sidewalks, safety or hills.

Source: EPA National Walkability Index (Smart Location Database 3.0, 2021) by census block group, population-weighted to the ZIP through 2020 census blocks; car-free households from Census ACS 2020 to 2024 table B25044 (the Homes card), or, where that is missing, the Smart Location Database's own 2014 to 2018 share weighted by households · EPA walkability index · Smart Location Database · Census ACS

Rail crossings

Morrow County has logged 1 rail accident since 2010, 0 of them derailments (FRA Form 54). Yard mishaps at walking speed dominate; main-line derailments are the rare, dangerous ones.

Train counts and speeds are the railroad's last inventory update. Crossings with only crossbucks rely on the driver; Ohio has averaged about 77 crossing collisions a year from 2010 to 2025 (FRA Form 57), between 64 and 87 in a year.

Source: Federal Railroad Administration, Grade Crossing Inventory (Form 71, current records); crossings whose point falls inside the ZIP boundary, closed crossings excluded; nearest crossing measured from the population-weighted center. Collisions are FRA Form 57 crossing incidents since 2010, placed by crossing id through the inventory's coordinates; train accidents are FRA Form 54 rail equipment accidents since 2010, placed by their own reported coordinates, counted one per incident rather than one per report (county totals from the same file). All three pulled from data.transportation.gov, September 2026 · FRA crossing inventory (Form 71, current) · FRA crossing incidents (Form 57) · FRA rail equipment accidents (Form 54) · FRA safety data · DOT open data

Bridges

No inventoried bridge sits inside this ZIP.

Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory 2025 (Ohio file); structures whose point falls inside the ZIP boundary; condition from NBI items 58, 59, 60 and 62 (deck, superstructure, substructure, culvert) · FHWA bridge inventory · ODOT TIMS bridge inventory (live)

Traffic

Trucks

135 a day on SR 656, 6% of its traffic

Driving

about 2K vehicle-miles a day on the 8 counted segments inside the ZIP; the typical segment carries 1,974 vehicles

Annual average daily traffic is both directions combined, averaged over the year. County, township and city roads are labelled by their route number, which ODOT uses instead of the street name. Most city streets have no count, so the busiest local road is the busiest counted one. Interchange ramps are left out of the busiest-road pick; a ZIP with nothing but ramps shows one labelled ramp and its ODOT number.

Road deaths: no fatal crash was recorded inside this ZIP in 2020 to 2024 (NHTSA FARS).

Source: ODOT traffic count segments, 2025 annual average daily traffic (ODOT TIMS); segments assigned to the ZIP holding their midpoint; NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System 2020 to 2024, crashes placed by their coordinates · ODOT TIMS traffic count segments · NHTSA FARS

Airports and trains

Nearest airfield

Chapman Memorial Field (6CM), Centerburg, 7 mi, public use

Amtrak

Sandusky station, 72.3 mi

Ohio's Amtrak stops are on the Floridian (Amtrak has temporarily combined the Capitol Limited with the Silver Star), the Lake Shore Limited and the Cardinal, all overnight trains; Cincinnati's only calls three times a week. Amtrak's Thruway bus stops, Dayton-Trotwood among them, are not counted as stations here. Airline service at Toledo and Rickenbacker is limited to a few routes; Youngstown-Warren has had no airline flights since 2018.

Source: FAA airport facilities and Amtrak stations via USDOT BTS National Transportation Atlas; straight-line miles from the ZIP's population-weighted center · BTS transportation atlas

Radon in this ZIP

0% of tests at or above EPA's 4 pCi/L action level · median 2.3 · highest 2.9

A ZIP average says nothing about one house; readings next door can differ tenfold. Test yours, and fix it at 4 pCi/L or more.

Source: odh.ohio.gov radon levels by ZIP code, tests since 2010, before mitigation · ODH radon program

Flood zones

0% of the ZIP's land is in that floodplain.

Design storms (NOAA Atlas 14): a 100-year storm here drops 5.5 inches in 24 hours (2.8 in a single hour, 4.3 in six); a 2-year storm 2.6, 10-year 3.7, 25-year 4.4, 500-year 7.0 inches in 24 hours. Storm sewers, culverts and detention ponds are sized from these numbers, and a "100-year" storm has a 1% chance every year.

Nearest river gauge: Kokosing River at Mount Vernon OH, 10.6 mi away, draining 202 square miles. Record flow 38,000 cubic feet a second at a stage of 18.19 ft on 1959-01-21; the highest since 2016 was 8,150 on 2017-11-19 (USGS, 61 annual peaks, 1954 to 2025).

No federal flood insurance policy is in force in this ZIP.

Community status: Morrow County's unincorporated areas take part in the National Flood Insurance Program; flood map effective 01/11/24.

Lenders require flood insurance on mortgaged homes in the 1% zone (zones A and AE). Block centers understate narrow floodplains in rural areas, so check the FEMA map for a specific address.

Source: FEMA National Flood Hazard Layer (effective flood insurance rate maps, levee centerlines) · 2020 census block centers · ZIP land area by polygon overlay, open water excluded; NOAA Atlas 14 precipitation frequency at the ZIP center; USGS NWIS annual peak flows; OpenFEMA NFIP policies in force by reported ZIP as of September 2026, NFIP redacted claims and the Community Status Book · FEMA flood hazard layer · FEMA Map Service Center · OpenFEMA · NOAA Atlas 14 · USGS stream gauges

Natural hazard risk

• Ice storm84
• Landslide77

FEMA's expected annual loss here from all hazards: $23,331 a year in buildings, crops and lives.

The index blends how often a hazard strikes, what it would cost, and how vulnerable and resilient the community is. Inland flooding (rivers and heavy rain) scores 18, tornado 49, winter weather 67.

Source: FEMA National Risk Index, census tracts, December 2025 release, weighted to this ZIP by 2020 block population · FEMA National Risk Index · NRI census tract layer (ArcGIS)

Climate

Temperature

50.0°F average; typical January low 17°, July high 83°

Hot and cold days

9 days a year reach 90°F; 128 nights fall below freezing, 7 below 0°F; 40 days never climb above freezing

Rain and snow

44.2 inches of precipitation on 84 days with a tenth of an inch or more; 26 inches of snow on 10 days with an inch or more, snow on the ground 39 days

Degree days

6,138 heating, 691 cooling (base 65°F): the higher the heating number, the bigger the winter gas bill

Drought (U.S. Drought Monitor): since 2020 Morrow County has spent 20 weeks in moderate drought or worse, 4 of them severe or worse (most recently 4 weeks in 2024), and 79 weeks at least abnormally dry. The worst since 2000 was severe drought in 2024/11; 3% of all weeks since 2000 were in drought. As of 2026-09-01: no drought.

Long run (NOAA, Morrow County): the average year ran 50.7 °F over 1996 to 2025 against 48.9 °F over 1901 to 1930, 1.8 °F warmer (1.8 °F warmer than 1951 to 1980); the warmest year on record was 2024 at 53.9 °F, and 2025 came in at 50.5 °F. Precipitation averaged 42.0 inches a year lately against 40.4 a century ago, 4% more; the wettest year was 2011 with 55.9 inches, and 2025 brought 37.9. More rain in bigger bursts is what strains storm sewers and septic fields.

Stations: Centerburg 2 SE (7.5 mi, temperature and precipitation); Utica 4 WSW (16.1 mi, snowfall; 12 years of snowfall record). Normals are thirty-year averages, so a single winter can run far above or below them; NOAA marks this snowfall normal provisional because the station record is too short or too patchy for a standard normal, and the temperature and precipitation figures here skip stations with under 10 years.

Source: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020 (annual/seasonal and monthly); nearest reporting station to the ZIP's population-weighted center for each element; U.S. Drought Monitor county statistics · NOAA climate normals · NOAA climate at a glance · U.S. Drought Monitor

Air quality

Worst days

98th-percentile day 21 µg/m³ (24-hour standard 35)

Ozone

64 ppb, 4th-highest daily 8-hour reading at Centerburg WWTP, 8.1 mi away (standard 70)

County AQI

Morrow County has no monitor of its own, so EPA publishes no daily index for it

Air toxics

20 in a million lifetime cancer risk from outdoor air toxics across Morrow County (EPA AirToxScreen 2020), mostly formaldehyde (16) and carbon tetrachloride (3)

Permitted sources

no permitted air source operates inside this ZIP; nearest major source Owens Corning in Mount Vernon, 11.2 mi (EPA ECHO)

Air standards

Morrow County meets every national air quality standard and carries no maintenance plan (EPA Green Book)

Ohio has 38 PM2.5 monitors, mostly in cities and near industry, so a rural ZIP borrows a reading from far away. 2025 includes Canadian wildfire smoke days. Air-toxics risk is EPA's modelled lifetime estimate for the county as a whole; EPA's national average is about 30 in a million, and formaldehyde, with the globally mixed carbon tetrachloride background and acetaldehyde, makes up most of it.

Source: EPA Air Quality System, 2025 annual summary files (monitor annual concentrations, county AQI) and the 2026 daily county AQI file; straight-line miles from the ZIP's population-weighted center to the nearest monitor · EPA air data files · EPA AirToxScreen · EPA Green Book · EPA ECHO

Toxic and Superfund sites

0 facilities have reported toxic chemical releases or transfers to EPA's inventory from inside this ZIP, and 0 sites appear in the Superfund program's list (most assessed and never listed).

3 EPA-registered facilities of all kinds in this ZIP: 0 brownfield sites in the cleanup program, 0 hazardous-waste handlers, 0 with air permits, 1 with water discharge permits.

Nearest landfill: Nickoll Construction, 2.5 mi from the center, construction and demolition debris landfill; 1 landfill site within 3 miles of the population center. Ohio EPA's list includes closed and historic dumps.

Solid waste: no licensed solid waste facility inside this ZIP; nearest Green Machine Shingle Recycling LLC (compost site), 9.3 mi from the center; 0 within 5 miles of the center (Ohio EPA licences, 2026). Compost sites and transfer stations are where most of a county's trash and yard waste actually goes.

Underground tanks: no underground storage tanks in use, 4 closed over the years; 1 leaking-tank release on record, all closed out, 1 inside a drinking-water source protection area (EPA UST Finder, Ohio records as of 2018-2019).

Drop-off sites: the nearest scrap tire drop-off is Delaware County Transfer Station, Delaware OH, 19 mi away; the nearest household battery drop-off is Y-NOT Cycling - Mt Vernon, Mount Vernon, 11.3 mi away (2 within 15 mi) (Ohio EPA).

The inventory covers larger manufacturers and federal facilities that use listed chemicals; reporting means use or release, not a measured hazard to neighbours. Superfund status: on, proposed for, or deleted from the list after cleanup.

Source: EPA Facility Registry Service, Superfund (SEMS and NPL) sites and Toxics Release Inventory reporters, points inside the ZIP boundary; distance from the ZIP's population-weighted center · EPA Facility Registry · EPA Superfund sites · Ohio EPA cleanup sites · EPA UST Finder · EPA ECHO

Toxic releases

No facility inside this ZIP files a Toxics Release Inventory report. Only plants in listed industries with 10 or more workers that handle a listed chemical above its threshold must file, so small shops and most businesses never appear.

Source: EPA Toxics Release Inventory, basic data files for Ohio, reporting years 2020 to 2024 (2024 shown); facilities placed by their coordinates; dioxin rows reported in grams are left out of the pound totals · EPA TRI data files

Dams

Nearest high-hazard dam: Lake Damascus Dam, 3.8 mi, condition poor (recreation, 31 ft high, 240 acre-feet, built 2010, on Unnamed Tributary To Dry Creek, private owned).

No inventoried dam sits inside this ZIP.

"High hazard" describes what a failure would do downstream, not the dam's shape; Ohio rates more than a third of its inventoried dams in poor condition, mostly small private lake dams. Emergency action plans are required for high-hazard dams.

Source: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, National Inventory of Dams (August 2026 release); straight-line miles from the ZIP's population-weighted center. Condition assessments come from Ohio's dam safety program. · National Inventory of Dams

Disasters on record

Strongest nearby: EF0 on 2010-05-11, 2.05 mi track.

19 federal declarations for Morrow County since Ohio's first in 1956 (13 major disasters): severe storm 8, flood 3, snowstorm 3. Latest: Covid-19 Pandemic (2020).

0 earthquakes of magnitude 2 or more within 25 miles since 1970.

Warnings since 2015 (National Weather Service, Morrow County): 11 tornado warnings (2019: 1, 2020: 1, 2023: 1, 2024: 4, 2025: 1, 2026: 3), 147 severe thunderstorm warnings, 12 flash flood warnings, 27 flood warnings and 62 flood advisories, 7 winter storm or blizzard warnings, 25 heat warnings or advisories, 6 extreme cold or wind chill warnings, 2 snow squall warnings; 768 products in all.

Mitigation grants (FEMA): 3 hazard mitigation projects in Morrow County since 2003, worth $46,792 ($27,612 federal); mostly mitigation planning. Largest: mitigation planning for Morrow (County), $26,666 (fiscal 2003).

55 severe weather reports for Morrow County since 2016 in NOAA's Storm Events log: 33 damaging thunderstorm wind, 12 hail, 5 river and street flooding, 3 tornadoes. Largest hail 1.5 in (Mar 26, 2026); about $202,000 in reported damage, the costliest being flash floods on Jun 23, 2017 ($70K). Zone-wide advisories add 5 winter storms, 4 high wind, 2 extreme cold.

Tornado tracks are straight lines from touchdown to lift-off; a near miss counts, a direct hit is not distinguished. Declarations include the 2020 COVID-19 emergency for every county; the latest, declared 2 May 2024 (DR-4777), covers the 14 March 2024 tornadoes in eleven counties, Indian Lake among them.

Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database 1950-2025; OpenFEMA disaster declarations summaries; USGS earthquake catalog (M2+, 1970 to date); NOAA Storm Events database 2016 to 2026 by county. Distances from the ZIP's population-weighted center. · NOAA SPC tornado data · OpenFEMA · USGS earthquakes · NOAA storm events · IEM warning archive

Spills and releases

By year

2021: 0, 2022: 0, 2023: 0, 2024: 0, 2025: 0, 2026: 0

Anyone who spills more than a reportable quantity must call Ohio EPA within 30 minutes, so the log mixes a few gallons of diesel on a highway shoulder with real releases; the reported volume is the caller's first estimate. Every report in Ohio EPA's open-data layer carries coordinates; air-pollution complaints and calls where nothing was found are left out of this count.

Source: Ohio EPA Emergency Response spill reports (Spills2 open data), reports with coordinates inside the ZIP boundary, 2021 to date · Ohio EPA spills data · Ohio EPA Office of Emergency Response

Oil and gas wells

Ohio has drilled since 1860, so most wells here are old, shallow and plugged; unplugged orphans and injection wells are the ones that matter for groundwater. Well-head points can be a few hundred feet off for the oldest records.

Source: Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Oil and Gas Resources Management, public well inventory (well-head points); counts inside the ZIP boundary and within 1 mile of the ZIP's population-weighted center · ODNR oil and gas · ODNR GIS services

Abandoned mines

Undermined land can subside and old workings can discharge acid mine water; ODNR's Abandoned Mine Land program funds repairs, and mine-subsidence insurance is included automatically in 26 eastern counties and offered as an option in 11 more. Maps drawn before 1977 are incomplete, so "none" means none mapped.

Quarries, pits and working mines: nearest Chesterville Plant (limestone, sand & gravel, National Lime & Stone Co., 576,000 tons sold), 5.6 mi away in Morrow County; 0 within 3 miles, 2 within 10 (ODNR Industrial Minerals Locations, 2015, which includes surface and underground coal mines).

Source: Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Mines of Ohio (abandoned underground mine maps, coal and industrial minerals, pre-1977), overlaid on the ZIP boundary in an equal-area projection · ODNR mines of Ohio · ODNR Geological Survey

Soils and septic

Soil

Amanda silt loam, 2 to 6 percent slopes; Amanda makes up 85% of the unit, 4% slope

Water

well drained; flooding none, ponding none

Septic

Not limited for a leach field under Ohio's rule (very limited under the national rule)

Basements

Somewhat limited for dwellings with basements

Farmland

All areas are prime farmland

Elevation

1,368 feet above sea level at the ZIP's population center; Ohio runs from 455 feet where the Ohio River leaves the state to 1,549 feet at Campbell Hill

One point stands for the ZIP; soils change field by field, and a site evaluation is what the health department goes by. "Very limited" means the standard design will not work, not that nothing will.

Source: USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, SSURGO soil survey via Soil Data Access; the map unit at the ZIP's population-weighted center and its dominant component's interpretations; Copernicus GLO-90 elevation model (via Open-Meteo) at that center · USDA Soil Data Access · Web Soil Survey · Open-Meteo elevation

Parks and public land

Nearest state park: Mt. Gilead State Park, 12 mi.

Trails: no built named trail crosses this ZIP; nearest is the Ohio to Erie Trail, 8.5 mi from the ZIP's center. 0.4 miles of state bike route C run through it (ODNR statewide trails inventory).

Open access as reported by each owner; local inventories vary, so a golf course or school field can be listed and a new park missed.

State lands nearby (ODNR facility layers): nearest boat ramp: Howard Road at Alum Creek State Park, 15.4 mi (0 within 5 miles); fishing access: Fishing Access at Mt. Gilead State Park, 12.2 mi (0 within 5 miles); swim area: Boater Swim Area at Alum Creek State Park, 15.9 mi (0 within 5 miles); campground: Campground/Campsite at Mt. Gilead State Park, 12 mi (0 within 5 miles).

Source: USGS Protected Areas Database of the United States 4.1 (open-access fee, designation and easement polygons), overlaid on the ZIP boundary; straight-line miles from the ZIP's population-weighted center to the nearest ODNR state park · USGS PAD-US · ODNR GIS services

Wetlands

Largest single wetland: under 1 acre of freshwater pond.

High-quality wetlands: nearest is Chesterfield Swamp (Gleeson Family Nature Reserve) (Morrow County Park District), 44 acres, 4.8 mi away; 1 within 10 miles.

Mitigation sites: nearest Northstar - Siemer Land, 10.5 mi away (a permittee-responsible site under an environmental covenant); 0 within 10 miles. These are wetlands and streams built or restored to replace ones filled under Clean Water Act permits.

Assessed wetland: nearest Orndorf, a buttonbush swamp, 9.6 mi away: ORAM 80 of 100 (category 3), plant community index 74 of 100 (surveyed 2008); 2 within 10 miles. Category 3 wetlands are the state's best and hardest to fill; category 1 are degraded.

Mapped from aerial photography, mostly 2004 to 2007 (the Lake Erie watersheds were re-mapped from 2021 imagery, a few areas date from 1976 to 2005 or 2014 to 2023), so small and seasonal wetlands are undercounted and ponds dug or filled since then are missing; a site delineation decides whether a lot is jurisdictional. Emergent means marsh, forested and shrub means swamp.

Source: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Wetlands Inventory (Ohio geodatabase), freshwater wetland and pond polygons clipped to the ZIP boundary; lakes and river channels excluded, imagery mostly 2004 to 2007 (Lake Erie basin 2021) · USFWS wetlands inventory · Ohio EPA GIS services

Land cover

Developed

60%: 7% medium (apartments, small-lot houses), 25% low (houses on larger lots), 28% open space (lawns, parks, golf courses, road verges)

Farmland

38%: 4.3% row crops, 34% pasture and hay

Forest

1.8%

Water and wetland

0.0% open water, 0.0% wetland

Paved and roofed

15% of the ZIP's surface is impervious; rain that lands there runs straight to a storm drain or stream instead of soaking in

Tree canopy

6% of the ZIP sits under tree canopy

Area

0.1 square miles of land

Land cover is classified from Landsat imagery at 30 metre pixels, so a house on a wooded lot can read as forest and a farm lane as open space. Stream health starts to slip once about 10% of a watershed is impervious, and is usually poor above 25%.

Source: National Land Cover Database 2021 (USGS and the Multi-Resolution Land Characteristics Consortium): land cover, percent impervious surface and tree canopy at 30 m, summarised over the ZIP boundary · NLCD · USDA Cropland Data Layer · ODNR pre-settlement vegetation

People

Education

10.6% of adults 25+ hold a bachelor's degree or higher, 0% a graduate degree; 68.3% stopped at high school or earlier

Ages

21.9% under 18, 17.1% 65 or older

Race and origin

89.7% white, 0% Black, 0% Hispanic or Latino, 0% Asian, 10.3% other or two or more races

Born abroad

0.7% of residents

Veterans

2.6% of adults

Households

2.6 people per household on average; 18% of households are one person living alone, 58% married couples

Who lives here

26% of households include children, 31% someone 65 or over and 14.5% are a senior living alone; of people 15 and over, 57% are married, 29% never married, 3% divorced and 11% widowed

Poverty

7.5% of residents live below the poverty line; the Gini index of income inequality is 0.35 (0 would mean every household earns the same, 1 that one household earns everything). County-wide, the Census Bureau's 2024 estimate is 10.4% (13.7% of children) with a median household income of $84,191 (SAIPE)

Ancestry

most often reported: German 14%, Irish 13%, Dutch 10%

Movers

15.4% of residents lived somewhere else a year earlier, 14.0% in another state

Moving

2,019 people moved into Morrow County between the returns they filed in 2022 and 2023 and 1,582 moved out (net +437, 27,846 stayed put); most arrivals came from Delaware, OH (434), Franklin, OH (363), Richland, OH (207); most leavers went to Delaware, OH (230), Richland, OH (183), Marion, OH (180) (IRS)

Metro or rural

USDA rural-urban continuum code 1 of 9 for Morrow County: metro - counties in metro areas of 1 million population or more

Nonprofits

1 tax-exempt organizations registered to addresses in this ZIP; 100% are 501(c)(3) charities (IRS)

County growth

Morrow County went from 34,955 people in April 2020 to 36,305 in July 2025 (+3.9%): 1,982 births, 1,972 deaths and a net +1,307 from migration since 2020; in 2025 alone a net 257 moved in from elsewhere in the U.S. and 3 arrived from abroad (Census estimates)

Since 1900

First counted in 1850 with 20,280 people, Morrow County counted 17,879 people in 1900, 17,168 in 1950, 21,348 in 1970, 31,646 in 2000 and 34,955 in 2020; it has never been larger than today (2.0 times its 1900 size, decennial censuses)

Commuting area: USDA classes this ZIP as a metropolitan suburb with heavy commuting to the core (rural-urban commuting area code 2 of 10, 2020 edition).

Race shares follow the Census categories, with Hispanic origin counted separately from race. Five-year averages centered on 2022. Moves count people on tax returns whose address changed county, so students and the very poor are undercounted.

Source: Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020 to 2024 five-year estimates by ZIP Code Tabulation Area (tables B15003, B03002, B05002, B21001, B01001, B25010, B11001, B17001, B19083, B04006, B07003, C16002, B05006, B11005, B11007, B12001); county population estimates, vintage 2025; IRS exempt organization master file; USDA rural-urban continuum codes 2023; USDA ERS rural-urban commuting area codes 2020; 2020 Census PL 94-171 redistricting file, group quarters (table P5); IRS Statistics of Income county migration, returns filed in 2022 and 2023; Census SAIPE 2024 county poverty and median income; decennial county counts from the Census Bureau report Population of States and Counties of the United States 1790 to 1990 · Census ACS · Census population estimates · IRS migration data · USDA ERS county codes · USDA ERS commuting area codes · 2020 Census redistricting data · Census SAIPE · IRS exempt organizations

Jobs and commuting

Largest employers by sector: Professional and technical services 80, Education 68, Hotels and restaurants 17. 59% of local jobs pay over $3,333 a month, and 55% of residents' jobs do.

County labor market: Morrow County's unemployment rate was 3.2% in July 2026 (4.5% a year earlier), with 17,568 people in the labor force and 559 looking for work. Employers in the county paid an average of $921 a week in the first quarter of 2026 (up 4.8% on the year) to 5,289 workers at 564 establishments, employment up 0.9%; the largest private sectors are health care and social assistance (716 jobs, $878 a week), manufacturing (686 jobs, $1,267 a week), retail (629 jobs, $574 a week). (BLS)

Working-age residents: 62.3% of people 16 and over here are in the labor force, averaged over 2020 to 2024 (Census ACS).

Federal money: in fiscal 2025 the federal government obligated $4 million in contracts performed in Morrow County ($109 a resident) and $19 million in grants ($538 a resident), plus $17,000 in loan guarantees and loans and $209 million in direct payments to people and organizations (USAspending; Social Security, Medicare and most benefits are not counted).

County economy: Morrow County produced $697 million of real GDP in 2024 (2017 dollars, up 3.5% since 2019); personal income came to $53,536 a person in 2024, 53rd of Ohio's 88 counties and up 29% since 2019 before inflation (BEA).

County type (USDA ERS, 2015 codes): Morrow County is a metro county with a nonspecialized economy, with none of the ERS distress flags.

How they get there: 80.3% drive alone, 3% carpool, 0% transit, 6.1% walk, 0% bike, 10.6% work from home (ACS).

Where residents work: 0% inside this ZIP; 13% in Mount Vernon (43050), 9% in Marengo (43334), 7% in Delaware (43015) (shares of the 55 residents with an Ohio workplace).

Unemployment-insurance records tie each job to a workplace and a home address; large employers sometimes report every worker at a headquarters, which inflates a few ZIPs. Self-employment, the military, the Postal Service, most farm work and a large part of federal civilian employment are missing (federal jobs come from OPM records that omit several agencies and, in practice, most of Wright-Patterson).

Source: Census Bureau LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, all jobs; populated census blocks assigned to ZIP Code Tabulation Areas by interior point, workplace-only blocks by the majority ZCTA of their block group or tract; Census ZIP Code Business Patterns 2023; OSHA enforcement data via the Labor Department open data catalog; BLS county unemployment (LAUS) and wages (QCEW); Census ACS 2020 to 2024 labor force by ZIP Code Tabulation Area (B23025); USAspending federal awards by county, fiscal 2025; BEA county GDP and personal income · Census LEHD · BLS local unemployment · BLS QCEW · BEA county GDP · USAspending · OSHA enforcement data · Census ZIP Business Patterns · Census ACS · USDA ERS county typology · CDFI Fund Opportunity Zones

Upward mobility

No Opportunity Atlas estimate covers enough of this ZIP (tracts redrawn since 2010, or too few children).

Source: Opportunity Atlas tract outcomes (Chetty, Friedman, Hendren, Jones and Porter, 2018; Census Bureau and IRS data for children born 1978 to 1983), population-weighted to ZIPs through 2020 census blocks · Opportunity Atlas · Opportunity Insights data

Social vulnerability

Socioeconomic status

13th percentile: poverty, unemployment, housing cost burden, no high school diploma, no health insurance

Household characteristics

23rd: people 65 and over or 17 and under, disability, single-parent households, limited English

Racial and ethnic minority status

25th

Housing and transportation

34th: multi-unit and mobile homes, crowding, no vehicle, group quarters

The index ranks tracts on how much help their residents would need in a disaster or disease outbreak, using American Community Survey 2018 to 2022 figures. Ranks are within Ohio; a ZIP is the average of its tracts weighted by residents.

Source: CDC/ATSDR Social Vulnerability Index 2022, census tracts ranked among Ohio tracts, population-weighted to the ZIP through 2020 census blocks · CDC/ATSDR SVI

Community health

Weight and activity

obesity 38.3%, no leisure-time physical activity 27.8%

Chronic conditions

diabetes 12.6%, high blood pressure 36.2%, COPD 8.6%, cancer (any but non-melanoma skin cancer) 9.8%

Habits

current smoking 15.9%, binge drinking 17.1%, short sleep 35.0%

Mind

depression 25.8%, frequent mental distress 18.0%, feeling lonely 33.4%

Access

uninsured under 65 6.8%, yearly checkup 79.8%, dental visit 64.4%

Hardship

any disability 30.5%, food insecurity 11.2%

Heart and lungs

current asthma 11.3%, coronary heart disease 7.0%, stroke 3.6%, arthritis 31.3%

Keeping up

79.4% of adults with high blood pressure take medicine for it, 85.5% had a cholesterol check in 5 years

Social needs

housing insecurity 9.1%, no reliable transportation 6.6%, utility shut-off threat 6.6%, lacking emotional support 20.2%

Provider shortage

100% live in a designated primary care shortage area (score 11 of 25); none for dental; 100% live in a designated mental health shortage area (score 15 of 25) (HRSA; higher scores mean greater need)

Coverage (Census)

12.3% of residents have no health insurance; 20% are on Medicaid and 51% have coverage through an employer

Disability (Census)

13.0% of residents report a disability

County (County Health Rankings 2025): Morrow County sits in health group 4 of 10 among U.S. counties for population health (1 is healthiest) and group 5 for community conditions. Premature death 9,093 (Ohio 9,740) years of life lost before 75 per 100,000; one primary care doctor for every 5,022 people (Ohio 1,328), one mental health provider for every 1,148 people (Ohio 286), one dentist for every 7,068 people (Ohio 1,535); preventable hospital stays 2,626 (Ohio 3,033) per 100,000 Medicare enrollees; injury deaths 95.3 (Ohio 100.7) and suicides 17.2 (Ohio 14.7) per 100,000; infant deaths n/a per 1,000 births; teen births 17.7 (Ohio 17.4) per 1,000 girls 15 to 19; children in poverty 13.1 (Ohio 17.5) percent; fine-particle air pollution 7.5 (Ohio 7.8) micrograms per cubic metre; no community water system in the county had a health-based drinking water violation in 2023. Drug overdoses: 11 deaths in the 12 months ending April 2024 (10 a year earlier, 21 at the highest since 2020, in the 12 months ending February 2021), about 30.9 per 100,000 residents against 20.8 statewide in the 12 months ending December 2025; the county count has been suppressed (1 to 9 deaths) in every later month (CDC provisional counts).

Cancer (NCI State Cancer Profiles): Morrow County records 446.3 new cancers a year per 100,000 people, age-adjusted, for 2018 to 2022 (Ohio 472.9, U.S. 448.6), about 215 cases a year, with the rate stable; cancer deaths 174.7 per 100,000 (Ohio 160.3, U.S. 145.4), stable. By site, per 100,000 (Ohio in parentheses): lung 71.5 (63.6), colorectal 32.3 (38.4), female breast 127.5 (133), prostate 101 (120.8), bladder 17.5 (21.8), leukemia 10.8 (13).

Medicare: 7,635 people in Morrow County were on Medicare in 2025 (21% of residents): 6,751 aged 65 or over and 884 younger people with disabilities. 54% chose a Medicare Advantage plan, 13% also had Medicaid and 82% had Part D drug coverage; enrollment is up 5% since 2020 (CMS).

Modelled from a national telephone survey and the ZIP's demographics, so these are estimates of what residents would report, not counts of patients; small ZIPs carry wide margins.

Source: CDC PLACES, 2025 release (BRFSS 2023 and 2022, ACS 2019-2023), model-based ZCTA estimates of crude adult prevalence; County Health Rankings 2025 and CDC provisional overdose counts for the county; HRSA shortage area designations weighted to the ZIP; Census ACS 2020 to 2024 (insurance, disability); CMS Medicare Monthly Enrollment, county, 2025 · CDC PLACES · County Health Rankings · CDC overdose data · NCI cancer profiles · HRSA data

Life expectancy

Ohio's statewide figure for the same years was 77.6; the United States 78.7. Differences of a year or two between neighbouring ZIPs are within the estimates' error; differences of five or more are real and track income, smoking and access to care.

Source: CDC National Center for Health Statistics, U.S. Small-area Life Expectancy Estimates Project (USALEEP), 2010-2015, census tracts weighted by 2020 block population · CDC USALEEP

Nearest hospital

25 beds · no trauma designation listed · 0 general or critical-access hospitals within 10 miles, 5 within 25.

Medicare rating: not rated · emergency room: yes

Outcomes: 30-day death rates after pneumonia 17.4% (about the national rate), July 2022 to June 2025 (Medicare).

Community health center: nearest Centerburg Health Center, Centerburg, 6.9 mi away; 0 within 3 miles, 1 within 10. These federally funded clinics see anyone and charge on a sliding scale.

Veterans: nearest VA site is David F. Winder Department of Veterans Affairs Community Based Outpatient Clinic, Mansfield (multi-specialty outpatient clinic), 24.8 mi away; 0 VA sites within 10 miles, 1 within 25.

Providers: 1 active health care providers list a practice address in this ZIP (NPPES registry, August 2026).

Dialysis: nearest Fmc - Knox County Kidney Center, Mount Vernon, 13.1 mi away, 14 stations, Medicare ★★★★☆ (Fresenius Medical Care); 0 within 5 miles, 2 within 15.

Source: federal HIFLD hospital inventory (via FEMA) with Medicare Care Compare star ratings, emergency-service flags, median emergency department times (measure OP_18b), HCAHPS patient survey results and 30-day death rates and patient-safety composites (Complications and Deaths file; a campus with no record of its own carries its parent hospital's figures, labelled); NPPES NPI registry, August 2026 monthly file, active records by practice ZIP; straight-line miles from the ZIP's population-weighted center (some listings lag closures and mergers); HRSA health center sites, CMS dialysis facilities (geocoded with the Census geocoder) and the VA facility list · CMS Care Compare data · HIFLD · HRSA data · CMS NPI files

Nursing homes

0 certified homes within 5 miles, 11 within 15.

Medicare rating

★★★☆☆ overall; inspections ★★★☆☆; staffing ★☆☆☆☆

Beds

46 certified

Ownership

For profit, corporation

Penalties

no federal fines or payment denials since 2023 (CMS)

Stars are Medicare's Care Compare ratings; a 1-star home failed inspections or is thinly staffed, and the abuse flag means a citation for harm in the past year or two. Ratings shift every quarter.

Source: Medicare Care Compare nursing home provider and penalties files (CMS), geocoded with the Census Bureau; straight-line miles from the ZIP's population-weighted center · CMS Care Compare data

Crime

Violent

49 offenses: 0 murders, 10 rapes, 1 robbery, 38 aggravated assaults (1.6 per 1,000 residents; Ohio 3.2)

Property

60 offenses: 17 burglaries, 40 thefts, 1 vehicle theft (2.0 per 1,000; Ohio 16.9)

Other

52 simple assaults, 36 vandalism reports, 9 drug offenses, 6 weapons violations

Reporting

12 months of 2024 on file; 30,456 residents served

Trend

violent offenses up 14% from 43 in 2023; property down 28% from 83

Rates cover the whole agency's territory, not this ZIP alone: a city's downtown and its quiet edges share one number. Murders, rapes and assaults are counted once per victim and other offenses once per incident, as the FBI's Crime Data Explorer does; a large department's figures can still fall somewhat short of the Explorer's, which takes in later submissions, and a sheriff's population is only the unincorporated area it serves.

Source: FBI Crime Data Explorer, NIBRS incident data for Ohio, 2024 (2023 for the trend): Group A offenses per reporting agency (violent = murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault; property = burglary, larceny, motor vehicle theft, arson), murders, rapes and assaults counted once per victim; the agency is the police department of the ZIP's largest local government (city, village or township) when it has one of its own, found in the FBI's 2023 and 2024 rosters or the USGS police station inventory, otherwise the sheriff of the ZIP's county; a rate needs at least six months of 2024 on file and is annualized from fewer than 12; the Ohio figures pool the 511 police departments and sheriff's offices with all 12 months on file · FBI Crime Data Explorer · USGS structures service

Police and post office

0 stations within 3 miles, 0 within 8.

Nearest post office: Sparta Post Office, 0.1 mi; 1 inside this ZIP.

Townships without their own department are policed by the county sheriff, whose office may be at the county seat; the state highway patrol covers the roads. The inventory lists stations, not patrol zones. It also misses some departments and still lists some that have closed; the atlas adds the departments that reported at least six months of 2024 crimes to the FBI but had no station in it, and drops the closed and duplicate records it found.

Source: USGS National Map structures inventory (police stations, post offices), with closed and duplicate records dropped, wrong names corrected and departments it lacks added from OpenStreetMap and the Census Bureau geocoder (September 2026); straight-line miles from the ZIP's population-weighted center · USGS structures service · OpenStreetMap · Census Bureau geocoder

Fire and EMS

0 stations within 3 miles, 3 within 8.

No station sits inside this ZIP's boundary.

Source: USGS National Map structures inventory (fire and EMS stations; most Ohio records last updated 2019 to 2022), Columbus- and Cleveland-area stations checked against the cities' station lists, September 2026. Indiana, Michigan and Pennsylvania stations near the line are included; Kentucky and West Virginia stations across the Ohio River are not. Straight-line miles from the ZIP's population-weighted center. Stations open or close without the inventory always catching up. · USGS structures service · Columbus fire stations · Cleveland fire stations

Public library

0 libraries within 3 miles, 2 within 8.

Open

about 39 hours a week

Building

2,208 square feet

Selover Public Library

1 building, serves 10K people, 0.9 visits per resident a year, 44K items lent, 252 programs, $330K annual income

Museums: nearest Knox County Historical Society, Mount Vernon, 10.1 mi away; 0 within 5 miles, 8 within 15 (IMLS 2018 directory: museums, historical societies, gardens and zoos).

Source: Institute of Museum and Library Services, Public Libraries Survey fiscal 2024 (outlet and system files) and Museum Data Files 2018 (museums); straight-line miles from the ZIP's population-weighted center · IMLS Public Libraries Survey · IMLS Museum Data Files

Grocery access

Distance

100% of residents live more than half a mile from a supermarket, 100% more than 1 mile, 7% more than 10 miles

Without a car

0% live in a tract flagged for low income and low vehicle access; 14.5% of households have no vehicle (Census ACS 2020 to 2024)

Poverty

9.6% of residents below the poverty line

SNAP stores

no supermarket or grocery store inside this ZIP take SNAP, alongside 0 convenience stores; nearest supermarket or grocery store Centerburg Cardinal Supermarket Inc (grocery store), 6.5 mi from the ZIP's center, and the nearest supermarket or superstore Bakers IGA, 11.3 mi; 0 supermarkets and grocery stores within 3 miles (USDA, 2026)

Setting

0% of residents in urban tracts, across 1 tract

A "supermarket" here is a large grocery store, supercenter or club; dollar stores and corner groceries do not count, and stores that opened since 2019 are missing from the distance figures; the SNAP store list is current. Rural distance flags mean a long drive, not necessarily hardship.

Source: USDA Economic Research Service, Food Access Research Atlas: 2019 Large Retailer Access Map (2010 census tracts, 2019 supermarket list; ERS's name for this file since July 2026), tract values weighted into ZIPs by 2020 census block population; SNAP store counts from USDA Food and Nutrition Service retailer locations, 2026; SNAP and no-vehicle households from Census ACS 2020 to 2024 · USDA ERS Large Retailer Access Map · USDA SNAP retailers · Census ACS

History

The history of this area has not been researched yet; the work runs county by county outward from Franklin County.

Source: Local history researched from Wikipedia, the 1880 county histories on archive.org, Ohio History Connection, National Register listings, Ohio historical markers, local historical societies and Wikimedia Commons, one file per municipality and township, loaded on demand; Native American history per county and statewide from the same sources and the nations' own histories · Ohio History Connection · Internet Archive (county histories) · Wikimedia Commons · Remarkable Ohio (historical markers)

Historic places

Nearest listing: Mount Liberty Tavern, Mount Liberty, 4.9 mi (certified 1974).

Place names (USGS): 1 named community (Sparta). Federal maps carry these names; the communities include hamlets and crossroads that never incorporated.

Listing recognizes significance and brings review of federally funded projects; it does not restrict a private owner. Historic districts count once, at their center.

Source: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places spatial data (point file); listings whose point falls inside the ZIP boundary · National Register data · USGS GNIS

School district

• Highland Local100% of residentsLocal school district

0 public schools inside this ZIP. Nearest to the population center: Highland High School (3.5 stars), 0.2 mi; 3 within a mile, 3 within 3.

Money, fiscal 2023: Highland Local took in $24 million, 50% from the state, 43% local and 6% federal, and spent $12,522 per pupil on day-to-day operations for 1,718 students, 59% of it on instruction; capital outlay $2.3 million (Census school finance survey via NCES).

Child poverty: the Census Bureau's 2024 estimate puts 9.7% of Highland Local's school-age children below the poverty line (171 of 1,767 aged 5 to 17; SAIPE).

Source: Ohio school district boundaries (OGRIP, 2014 edition, via ODOT) · 2020 census blocks · public school locations from NCES EDGE, 2024-25 · enrollment and meals from the NCES Common Core of Data 2023-24 · private schools from the NCES Private School Survey 2023-24 · district finances from the Census F-33 survey, fiscal 2023 · child poverty from Census SAIPE 2024 · ODOT GIS · NCES EDGE · NCES Common Core of Data · NCES private schools · Census SAIPE · Census school finances (F-33)

School report card

Components

achievement 3 stars, progress 2 stars, gap closing 4 stars, early literacy 5 stars, graduation 5 stars, college and career readiness 3 stars

Achievement

performance index 79.3% of ODE's maximum score for the year (the average of the top 2% of district scores, not the highest score possible) (score 87.1, 86.6 the year before)

Graduation

98.5% of the class of 2024 graduated in four years; 64.7% of that class (graduates or not) showed college, career, workforce or military readiness

Spending

$11,754 per pupil in 2023-24 against $12,759 statewide

Teachers

average salary $61,683, 13 years of experience, 61.5% with a master's degree, 7.8% in their first years of teaching

Enrollment

1,697 students in 2024-25

Three stars means the district meets state standards, five that it significantly exceeds them, one that it needs significant support. Achievement stars follow family income closely; the progress component (growth from year to year) is the fairer measure of teaching. Charter and private schools are not in the district figures.

Source: Ohio Department of Education and Workforce, 2024-2025 School Report Cards (district overview, achievement, expenditures per pupil and educator files), for the district where most of this ZIP's residents live · Ohio school report cards

Colleges

Knox County Career Center is a public career school with 204 students over the 2023-24 year.

0 institutions within 10 miles, 15 within 25.

Next nearest: Mount Vernon Nazarene University (12.1 mi).

Universities, community colleges, career schools and private colleges all count; branch campuses appear only where IPEDS lists them separately. Graduation rates follow first-time full-time students for 150% of normal time.

Source: NCES IPEDS 2024 directory, 12-month enrollment 2023-24, tuition and fees 2023-24 and graduation rates for the 2017 entering cohort at four-year institutions and the 2020 cohort at two-year ones; straight-line miles from the ZIP's population-weighted center · NCES IPEDS

Local government

• Sparta (village)77% of residentsVillage
• South Bloomfield Township, Morrow County23% of residentsTownship

ZIP codes and municipal and township boundaries do not share boundaries, so this ZIP is split between them.

Source: ODOT municipal corporation and township boundaries · 2020 census blocks · Ohio EPA grants awarded in 2025 (OEPA_Achievements map service) · Auditor of State unauditable entities list · ODOT GIS · Auditor of State · Ohio EPA grants (OEPA_Achievements)

Who represents this ZIP

U.S. Senate: Bernie Moreno (R), Jon Husted (R)

• Jim Jordan RU.S. House OH-4Urbana · since 2007 · site
• Bill Reineke ROhio Senate 26Eden Township · since 2020 · site
• Riordan T. McClain ROhio House 87Nevada · since 2018 · site

Source: ODOT district boundaries · members from the U.S. House, Ohio Senate and Ohio House directories, September 2026 · U.S. House · Ohio Senate · Ohio House · ODOT GIS