ZIP code 45812: Alger

Drinking-water compliance

Most homes here are on private wells, which EPA does not regulate or test; a well owner tests on their own.

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

Most homes here are on private wells, which nobody samples for compliance; a well owner tests on their own.

Source: EPA Six-Year Review 4 compliance monitoring data, 2012 to 2019 (TTHM, HAA5 and coliform from distribution-system samples of the system that serves most of this ZIP; nitrate, arsenic, radionuclides, solvents, herbicides and metals from the entry points of the same system); non-detects counted as zero

PFAS

Most homes here are on private wells, which nobody tests for PFAS unless the owner pays for it.

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; results in nanograms per litre (parts per trillion) · Ohio EPA PFAS

Lead at the tap

Most homes here are on private wells; lead there comes from the house plumbing, and only a lab test of the tap will find it.

Children: the Ohio Department of Health lists this ZIP as high-risk for childhood lead exposure, mostly from old paint and soil, so every child living here should get a blood lead test at ages 1 and 2 (Medicaid covers it, and doctors are required to order it).

Housing age: 35% of the homes here were built before 1960 and 26% before 1940, when lead service lines, lead solder and lead paint were common; 54% predate 1980 (Census ACS 2020 to 2024).

Source: EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System lead and copper 90th-percentile results (Envirofacts) and EPA's service line inventory dashboard (2026 Q2), for 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

Most homes here are on private wells: no fluoride is added, and any treatment is the household softener or filter.

The health department counts 100% of Hardin County residents on community water as receiving fluoridated water.

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 the system serving most of this ZIP; 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

Most homes here are on private wells, which algal blooms do not reach.

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

fine-grained lake and outwash deposits, part of the Lima Lacustrine Aquifer (lacustrine setting); wells there yield 5 - 25 gallons a minute, deposits 25 - 100 ft thick

Bedrock

Undifferentiated Salina Dolomite, Includes Bass Islands Group, yielding > 100 gpm to a well

Setting

Limestone; water table 5-15 ft down, 2-4 in/yr recharge, clay shrink-swell soil (hydrogeologic setting 7Fc); pesticide index 163

Well logs

272 drilled wells on file (148.2 per 1,000 residents), median 92 ft deep, 15 gallons a minute median test yield, water 20 ft down

Aquifers

84% of wells in bedrock, 16% in sand, gravel and other unconsolidated material; typical well drilled 1997, 120 since 2000; uses: Domestic 214, Monitor 23

Wellhead protection

12% of this ZIP lies inside Ohio EPA source water protection areas for 3 public water systems (Mcguffey Village PWS, Alger Village PWS), 2% inside inner management zones, the ground a well draws from within a year; the largest, Mcguffey Village PWS, is rated low susceptibility in a carbonate bedrock setting

Geology

30% of the ZIP is a sensitive geologic setting, where thin or sandy cover leaves the aquifer open to what soaks in from the surface; its population center sits on Silurian-Devonian limestone and dolomite known to form karst, under more than 20 ft of drift; nearest verified sinkhole 16.5 mi away (Ohio EPA and ODNR Geological Survey)

Injection wells

4 Class V injection wells on Ohio EPA's books inside this ZIP (3 active): 4 large septic; these put fluids underground above or into drinking water aquifers

Water table

HN-1 OH monitoring well (ODNR), 0.6 mi away: water 11 ft below ground on 2026-07-15; averaged 11.3 ft in 2015 to 2019 and 12.3 ft over the latest year, so the table is running about 1.0 ft lower; range 8.8 to 16.7 ft over 4,174 readings since 2015

Nitrate risk

EPA researchers put the chance that a public water system in the Cottonwood Ditch subwatershed exceeds the nitrate limit at 16% if it draws on groundwater and 35% 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 Ada WTP (Hardin County), 4.7 mi away: 155 ft deep in limestone or dolomite; bedrock 26 ft down; wells there yield under 5 gallons a minute; on standby. 6 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

the population center sits on Silurian-Devonian limestone and dolomite known to form karst, under more than 20 ft of drift; no mapped sinkhole inside the ZIP; nearest verified sinkhole 16.5 mi from the center

Wellhead protection

12% of the ZIP lies inside Ohio EPA source water protection areas for 3 public water systems (Mcguffey Village PWS, Alger Village PWS), 2% inside inner management zones, the ground a well draws from within a year; the largest, Mcguffey Village PWS, is rated low susceptibility in a carbonate bedrock setting

Vulnerability index

DRASTIC 129 (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

0.15 million gallons a day design flow

Compliance

12 of the last 12 quarters with a violation; currently in violation (not significant); 1 formal enforcement action in 5 years; 136 effluent limit exceedances in 3 years

Other discharge permits: 1 facility inside this ZIP other than sewage plants holds a Clean Water Act permit (factories, water plants, quarries, package plants, storm water).

Sludge source: 1 permitted biosolids generator is inside this ZIP; nearest McGuffey STP, 3 mi away; 4 within 10 miles (Ohio EPA).

State water loans: no Ohio EPA revolving-fund project inside this ZIP; the nearest is Water Treatment Plant Improvements (Ada, 2026, $4.8 million), 4.7 mi away.

Sewer planning: 97% of it is assigned to Hardin County as the designated sewage management agency under Ohio's Clean Water Act section 208 plan (generic prescriptions); 4 agencies share the ZIP. 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.

Plants inside this ZIP: Village of Alger Wwtp (0.15 MGD).

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 53% of the land, recreation (bacteria) 97%, fish consumption 10%

Causes listed

bacteria (pathogens) (97%), sediment and silt (37%), habitat damage (37%)

Cleanup plans

6% of the land is under a TMDL pollution budget

Watersheds here: Cottonwood Ditch (not supporting); Headwaters Scioto River (not supporting).

Nearest stream assessment (Ohio EPA): Cottonwood Ditch Dst. Alger, Adj. Twp. Rd. 100, Dst C.R. 35 on the Cottonwood Ditch, 1 mi away, draining 11 square miles: full attainment of its modified channel modified use; fish IBI 26 of 60 (2009); bugs rated fair; habitat QHEI 24 of 100. 4 assessed sites inside the ZIP, 1 within 3 miles, 33 within 10. Scores above about 40 (IBI), 36 (ICI) and 60 (QHEI) mean a healthy warmwater stream.

Stream designations (Ohio EPA water quality standards): 23.3 miles of designated streams cross this ZIP: 15.9 mi warmwater habitat, 7.4 mi modified warmwater habitat. Exceptional and coldwater streams are the state's healthiest; modified and limited-resource waters are channelized or ditched.

Proposed for 2026: Ohio EPA's pending water quality standards rewrite would add 0.1 miles of stream in this ZIP to the antidegradation tiers: the Auglaize River as Superior High Quality Water (Headwaters to Prairie creek (RM 18.77)). Listing raises the bar for any new or expanded discharge.

PFAS in the river (Ohio EPA large river survey): at Blanchard R. At Gilboa @ Co. Rd. 5-F, 22.1 mi away, the water carried 98.68 ng/L of total PFAS (PFOA 2.8, PFOS 2.2 ng/L); fish fillets held 34.79 ng/g in bluegill and 17.56 ng/g in catfish (PFOS 14 in bluegill). Drinking water limits are 4 ng/L for PFOA and PFOS; river water is not drinking water, but treatment plants that draw from it start from these numbers.

Farm chemicals (USGS estimate, 2018): farms in Hardin County used about 263 metric tons of pesticide active ingredient, 558 kg per square mile, 8th of Ohio's 88 counties. Largest: glyphosate 94 t, atrazine 51 t, metolachlor 23 t, acetochlor 23 t, 2,4-D 15 t. Atrazine, the corn herbicide, is the pesticide that most often shows up in Ohio tap water after spring rains; this county used 51 t of it.

Farms (2022 Census of Agriculture): 715 farms work 243,914 acres of Hardin County, with 76% of its land in cropland, 341 acres to a farm. 12,587 cattle, 86,404 hogs, 514 broilers; 81,903 acres of corn and 112,261 of soybeans. Sales $408 million, 49% 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

• Upper Scioto87% of residentsDrains to the Ohio River
• Auglaize13% of residentsDrains to Lake Erie

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

H2Ohio: nearest project Village of Harrod Wetland Restoration, inland flow-through wetland, funded 2023, in progress, 4.9 mi away: This project restored six acres of floodplain in Allen County to improve water quality. The newly created wetlands capture nutrient-rich surface water before en...; 1 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.

Source water: 100% of this ZIP drains to the river intakes of Columbus Public Water System, Aqua Ohio - Marion, Napoleon City and sits inside their Ohio EPA source water protection area.

Watershed grants: nearest "Municipal Parking Lot No. 2 Improvements" by City of Lima (stormwater management, Section 319), 14.5 mi away; 0 within 10 miles (Ohio EPA project lists: Section 319 and GLRI through fiscal 2023, SWIF through 2017).

Watershed plan: the Cottonwood Ditch subwatershed around this ZIP's center has an Ohio EPA-approved nine-element nonpoint source plan (2021), the blueprint that makes its farms, streambanks and communities eligible for federal Section 319 runoff grants.

The population center sits in the Cottonwood Ditch subwatershed; its water runs on through Headwaters Scioto River, then Silver Creek-Scioto River, then Gander Run-Scioto River.

In 2015 Hardin County drew about 5 million gallons a day of fresh water (USGS): 2.2 million for public supply (100% from wells, 18,700 people served at 72 gallons a person a day at home), 1.4 million for mining; 13,000 residents drew their own well water.

EnviroAtlas, Cottonwood Ditch: 100 to 200 acres in the Conservation Reserve Program; 9,931 acres of grain crops; 33 miles of streams (1.7 per square mile); water use of 165 thousand gallons a day for homes; 37.3 inches of rain and snow a year; 13.9 kg of nitrogen per hectare falling from the air each year; farm nitrogen of 9.1 kg per hectare a year as manure and 51.8 kg as synthetic fertilizer; 49% of the farmland sits on drained hydric soils; potentially restorable wetlands on farmland cover 61% of the subwatershed; 1.8% of the land is paved or roofed; 4% 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, so stream crossings and fills here can use the Army Corps' blanket nationwide permits under Ohio EPA's standing 401 certification (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

$44,045 median

Income spread

20% of households earn under $25,000 a year, 27% $100,000 or more and 2.1% $200,000 or more

Rent

$886 a month, median gross

Owner-occupied

82% of 751 occupied homes; 46% of owners carry a mortgage

Typical home built

1975

Value spread

33% of owner-occupied homes are worth under $100,000 and 1.0% $500,000 or more; income per person $28,540 a year

Moved in

the typical owner moved in in 2007, the typical renter in 2020

Median age

36.1 years

Commute

24 minutes each way on average, 17% of commuters travel 45 minutes or more, 2% work from home

Housing stock

77% single-family detached, 4% in buildings of 5 or more units, 15.2% mobile homes; 1.6% of homes are crowded (more than one person a room)

Vacancy

10% of 836 housing units are vacant: 0.8% for rent, 0.7% for sale, 8.6% other, such as homes held off the market, in probate or abandoned

Owner costs

27% of owners with a mortgage and 17% of owners without one spend 30% or more of income on housing

Evictions

1.55 eviction filings a year per 100 renter households in 2016 to 2018, 0.9 ending in a judgement (about 2 filings a year; Eviction Lab)

Fair market rent

$1,010 a month for a two-bedroom (one-bedroom $840, three-bedroom $1,280): HUD's fiscal 2026 small-area fair market rent, the benchmark for housing vouchers in the Hardin County area

Tax returns

830 returns for 2022 averaging $53,629 of adjusted gross income; 29% reported under $25,000 and fewer than 20 reported $200,000 or more; 17% claimed the earned income credit and 25% were filed by people 60 or older (IRS)

Subsidized housing

2 tax-credit (LIHTC) properties with 60 low-income units, newest placed in service 1997. Housing vouchers used in private rentals are not counted

Banks

no bank branch inside this ZIP; the nearest, U.S. Bank National Association, is 4.3 mi from its center (FDIC); no credit union branch (NCUA)

Strain

35% of renters pay 30% or more of income in rent; 13.3% of households have no vehicle; the median renter spends 26.8% of income on rent; the median owner with a mortgage spends 18.1% 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

524 one-family houses, 12 two-family houses, 105 manufactured homes, 62 farmhouses; also 2 apartment buildings and 85 other residential parcels

Age

22% built before 1950, 54% before 1978 (1978: the year lead paint was banned for housing)

Size

median living area 1,509 sq ft; median lot 0.82 acres (condominiums left out)

Value

median appraised value $126,750 (tax year 2026): the county auditor's market value for property tax, not a sale price; working values of the 2026 triennial update, not yet certified; the tax-year-2025 values the current bills rest on are lower

Sales

21 sales in the 12 months to Sep 14, 2026 (median $160,000); 86 sales in 5 years (median $119,500, $74 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)

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: Allen County Auditor (as of Sep 14, 2026); Hardin County Auditor (as of Sep 14, 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

The Hardin County building department reports only buildings of four or more units and commercial work to the survey (0 such units 2016 to 2025); single-family houses in its unincorporated townships are not counted here, so the zero says nothing about how many houses were built.

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

Five years

+28% from 2016 to 2021

Last year

-3% in 2021

Since 2000

prices stand at 1.5 times their 2000 level

Series

tracked since 1998; the index stops at 2021 because there were too few transactions after that

Zillow's typical home value here is $166K (2026-07), up 10% over the year, up 38% over five years and up 108% over ten.

On the market (Realtor.com, August 2026): 2 active listings, 0 new this month; listings spend a median 64 days on the market; 0% of listings have cut their price. Realtor.com flags this ZIP's figures this month as low quality (2 active listings), so no asking price is shown.

The index follows the same houses through repeat sales and refinance appraisals on conforming mortgages, so it measures price change rather than the price level (the Homes card has the median value). Consumer prices rose about 21% from 2011 to 2021, so a gain under 21% is a loss in real terms.

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

Upper Scioto Valley Local

20.0 effective mills (26.7 gross); $1,400 a year on a $200,000 home. Operating 16.4, inside millage 3.6.

Allen East Local 1% of residents

25.1 effective mills (34.4 gross); $1,754 a year on a $200,000 home. Operating 14.9, bonds 2.4, improvements 1.0, substitute 1.6, inside millage 5.0.

Municipal income tax

Alger 1% (46% 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

Upper Scioto Valley Local 0.5%. Voted by the district and collected with the state income tax.

Sales tax

7.25% combined rate in Hardin County: Ohio's 5.75% plus county and transit levies; this ZIP straddles counties or transit districts, so the rate depends on the address.

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-owned69% of residentsAmerican Electric Power (AEP)
• Mid-Ohio Energy Cooperative, Inc. co-op31% of residentsBuckeye Power, Inc.

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).

Mid-Ohio Energy Cooperative, Inc. solar and meters, 2024: no net-metered solar reported under its own name (Buckeye Power, the co-ops' generation cooperative, files one Ohio net-metering row: 3,058 systems, 32.6 MW in 2024); 100% of its 8,197 meters are two-way smart (AMI) meters (EIA-861).

Energy burden: households here spend an average 5.3% of income on electricity, gas and other fuels (about $3,440 a year against $64,841 of income); the 47% of households below 80% of the area median income spend 12.1%, and 51% 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

38% of the 751 homes here heat with utility gas.

Utility gas 38%Electricity 22%Propane or LP 33%Oil, wood, other 7%

• Sheldon Gas Company, Inc. small company99% of residents, main companySmall PUCO-regulated company

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

Pipes under the street: Sheldon Gas Company, Inc. reported 47 miles of distribution main to PHMSA for 2025, 64% plastic and 8.5% cast iron or bare steel (the leak-prone materials).

PUCO lists 3 companies operating in Hardin County: Columbia Gas of Ohio, Enbridge Gas Ohio, Sheldon Gas Company, Inc..

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

4 plants within 10 miles totalling 369 MW: 3 solar (303 MW), 1 wind (66 MW). Inside this ZIP: Hardin Solar Energy LLC (solar, 150 MW).

Wind: Hog Creek, 30 turbines, 66 MW (2017), 8.5 mi away; 2 wind farms within 15 miles.

Solar: Hardin Solar III, 250 MW AC (2025), 1,555 acres, 1.8 mi away; 4 utility-scale solar farms within 15 miles, inside the ZIP: Hardin Solar Energy, LLC, Hardin Solar III.

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

7.8 miles of transmission pipe cross this ZIP: Columbia Gas Trans Co 7.8 mi.

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

• Brightspeed92% of residentsBrightspeed (formerly CenturyLink)
• Windstream Ohio8% of residentsWindstream

ZIP codes and exchange areas do not share boundaries, so this ZIP is split between them.

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

Internet

Served, 100/20 Mbps or better 99%Underserved, 25/3 to 100/20 0%Unserved, under 25/3 1%

Fiber reaches 15% of locations, cable 61%; a year earlier 78% were served.

Of 751 households, 54% subscribe to cable, fiber or DSL, 15% rely on a cellular plan only, and 11% have no internet at home.

Measured by Ookla speed tests, April to June 2025: typical fixed download 131.1 Mbps, upload 50.4 Mbps, 33 ms latency, across 131 tests from up to 19 devices in 13 map tiles.

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 96% · 5G 73%
• Verizon4G 100% · 5G 4%

Registered towers: 1 antenna structure registered with the FCC inside this ZIP and 1 within 3 miles of its center; the tallest inside is a 296-foot tower. 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 ONU INN, 4.3 mi. 4 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 9.2 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

4 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 0.52 and mix of homes and job types 0.37 on the EPA's 0 to 1 scales, where 1 is the most varied

Car-free households

13.3% 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

Hardin County has logged 3 rail accidents since 2010, 1 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

Age

typical bridge built 2002, 2 built before 1950; oldest 1922, County Road 95 over Scioto River

Busiest

SR 235 over Cottonwood Ditch, 1,476 vehicles a day (2018 count)

Owners

county 11, state 2

Ratings come from the inspection every bridge gets at least every two years; poor means deterioration that needs repair, not imminent danger. FHWA's file is a yearly snapshot with inspections through early 2025, so a bridge replaced, re-rated or closed since then still shows its old rating here; ODOT's TIMS bridge inventory carries the current one. Traffic figures are the average daily counts the bridge owners filed with the inventory; most Ohio counts date from 2015 and some are older. County engineers own most of Ohio's small bridges and ODOT the big ones.

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

210 a day on SR 309, 6% of its traffic

Driving

about 35K vehicle-miles a day on the 59 counted segments inside the ZIP; the typical segment carries 629 vehicles

Busiest local road

county road 65, 944 vehicles a day

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: 1 person died in 1 crash inside this ZIP in 2020 to 2024 (1 cyclist); 0 involved a drinking driver and 1 happened in the dark. Too few people live here for a per-resident rate to mean much; deaths are counted where the crash happened, and many who die on through roads live elsewhere. (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

Lima Allen County (AOH), Lima, 10.2 mi, public use

Amtrak

Bryan station, 65.5 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 1.4 · highest 1.4

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

42% of the ZIP's land is in that floodplain. Zones mapped here: A.

Design storms (NOAA Atlas 14): a 100-year storm here drops 5.3 inches in 24 hours (2.7 in a single hour, 4.1 in six); a 2-year storm 2.5, 10-year 3.5, 25-year 4.2, 500-year 6.8 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: Scioto River at Kenton OH, 12.1 mi away, draining 160 square miles. Record flow 3,560 cubic feet a second at a stage of 14.26 ft on 2023-03-04; the highest since 2016 was 3,560 on 2023-03-04 (USGS, 4 annual peaks, 2022 to 2025).

11 federal flood insurance policies are in force in this ZIP, covering $1.5 million of buildings; 100% of them are in a mapped high-risk zone; the typical policy costs $462 a year (about 1% of households).

Community status: Alger does not take part in the National Flood Insurance Program, and is sanctioned, so federally backed mortgages there cannot carry flood insurance; flood map effective 07/03/24. Hardin County's unincorporated areas take part in the National Flood Insurance Program; flood map effective 07/03/24.

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

• Lightning95
• Strong wind92

FEMA's expected annual loss here from all hazards: $592,787 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 63, tornado 59, winter weather 79.

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

51.4°F average; typical January low 20°, July high 84°

Hot and cold days

14 days a year reach 90°F; 116 nights fall below freezing, 5 below 0°F; 38 days never climb above freezing

Rain and snow

35.8 inches of precipitation on 75 days with a tenth of an inch or more; 26 inches of snow on 10 days with an inch or more

Degree days

5,769 heating, 847 cooling (base 65°F): the higher the heating number, the bigger the winter gas bill

Drought (U.S. Drought Monitor): since 2020 Hardin County has spent 42 weeks in moderate drought or worse, 2 of them severe or worse (most recently 2 weeks in 2024), and 116 weeks at least abnormally dry. The worst since 2000 was severe drought in 2024/09; 6% of all weeks since 2000 were in drought. As of 2026-09-01: no drought.

Long run (NOAA, Hardin County): the average year ran 51.5 °F over 1996 to 2025 against 49.3 °F over 1901 to 1930, 2.2 °F warmer (1.9 °F warmer than 1951 to 1980); the warmest year on record was 2024 at 55.0 °F, and 2025 came in at 52.0 °F. Precipitation averaged 37.8 inches a year lately against 36.6 a century ago, 3% more; the wettest year was 2011 with 53.4 inches, and 2025 brought 32.8. More rain in bigger bursts is what strains storm sewers and septic fields.

Stations: Lima Allen Co Airport (9.9 mi, temperature and precipitation); Kenton (12.4 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 21.8 µg/m³ (24-hour standard 35)

Ozone

66 ppb, 4th-highest daily 8-hour reading at Lima, 12.5 mi away (standard 70)

County AQI

Hardin 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 Hardin County (EPA AirToxScreen 2020), mostly formaldehyde (16) and carbon tetrachloride (3)

Permitted sources

2 permitted air sources inside this ZIP under the Clean Air Act; none had a violation in the last 3 years. Nearest major source Sekisui Kasei USA, Inc in Kenton, 12.4 mi (EPA ECHO)

Air standards

Hardin 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

1 facility has 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).

17 EPA-registered facilities of all kinds in this ZIP: 1 brownfield site in the cleanup program (109 South Main Street), 1 hazardous-waste handler, 1 with air permits, 4 with water discharge permits.

Solid waste: no licensed solid waste facility inside this ZIP; nearest Hardin County Solid Waste Facility (transfer station), 10.7 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.

Hazardous waste (EPA ECHO): 1 active RCRA handler inside this ZIP; none had a violation in the last 3 years. Nearest treatment, storage or disposal facility: Ineos Nitriles USA LLC in Lima, 15.8 mi. Handlers include every business that generates hazardous waste, from body shops to chemical plants.

Underground tanks: 1 site with 2 registered underground storage tanks in use (7 more tanks closed over the years); 6 leaking-tank releases on record, all closed out, 5 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 Hardin County Transfer Station, Kenton, 10.7 mi away (7 within 15 mi); the nearest household battery drop-off is OmniSource LLC, Lima, 13.2 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: Ferguson Upground Reservoir, 11.4 mi, condition fair (water supply, 49 ft high, 8K acre-feet, built 1959, on Ottawa River - Offstream, local government 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: EF1 on 2021-12-11, 1.6 mi track.

15 federal declarations for Hardin County since Ohio's first in 1956 (8 major disasters): severe storm 5, snowstorm 4, flood 2. Latest: Covid-19 Pandemic (2020).

6 earthquakes of magnitude 2 or more within 25 miles since 1970, the largest M2.9 5 km W of Jackson Center, Ohio in 2023.

Warnings since 2015 (National Weather Service, Hardin County): 5 tornado warnings (2019: 2, 2023: 2, 2024: 1), 90 severe thunderstorm warnings, 10 flash flood warnings, 14 flood warnings and 57 flood advisories, 8 winter storm or blizzard warnings, 29 heat warnings or advisories, 8 extreme cold or wind chill warnings; 769 products in all.

Mitigation grants (FEMA): 1 hazard mitigation project in Hardin County since 2003, worth $20,752 ($15,000 federal); mostly mitigation planning. Largest: mitigation planning for Hardin (County), $20,752 (fiscal 2003).

Disaster aid to households: 14 households in this ZIP registered with FEMA after 2 declared disasters; 8 were approved for $25,759 of housing and other-needs help. Registrations by event: severe storms, flooding and tornadoes (2007): 13; COVID-19 pandemic (2020): 1.

62 severe weather reports for Hardin County since 2016 in NOAA's Storm Events log: 30 damaging thunderstorm wind, 12 river and street flooding, 11 hail, 5 flash floods. Largest hail 1.5 in (Jul 16, 2017); strongest measured gust 68 mph (Mar 11, 2026); about $800,000 in reported damage, the costliest being tornadoes on Dec 11, 2021 ($300K). Zone-wide advisories add 16 winter weather, 6 winter storms, 5 high wind.

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

What spilled

unidentified material or sheen (2), sewage, manure or storm water (2), oils and hydraulic fluid (1)

Reached water

1 of them reached a creek, river, ditch or storm drain (named or unnamed)

By year

2021: 0, 2022: 2, 2023: 1, 2024: 0, 2025: 0, 2026: 1

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

Status

0 producing, 9 plugged or abandoned, the rest drilled but idle, gas storage, orphan, expired permits or unknown

Orphans

1 well in the state orphan program, unplugged with no solvent owner

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 Bluffton Stone Co. (limestone, Bluffton Stone Co., 320,312 tons sold), 13.1 mi away in Allen County; 0 within 3 miles, 0 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

Minster silty clay loam, 0 to 1 percent slopes; Minster makes up 90% of the unit, 0.5% slope

Water

very poorly drained; hydric (formed under saturated conditions); flooding none, ponding frequent

Septic

Very limited for a leach field under Ohio's rule

Basements

Very limited for dwellings with basements

Farmland

Prime farmland if drained

Elevation

971 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

Alger Park

local park, 7 acres inside the ZIP

Nearest state park: Indian Lake State Park, 12.3 mi.

Trails: no built named trail crosses this ZIP; 7.6 miles more are proposed or planned; nearest is the Triplett Bike Path, 12.6 mi from the ZIP's center. 4.5 miles of state bike route E 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: Chippewa at Indian Lake State Park, 13.6 mi (0 within 5 miles); fishing access: Fishing Access at Van Buren State Park, 31.5 mi (0 within 5 miles); swim area: Boat Swim Area at Indian Lake State Park, 13.2 mi (0 within 5 miles); campground: Campground/Campsite at Indian Lake State Park, 13.5 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

101 acres forested/shrub wetland, 43 acres pond, 29 acres emergent wetland. Largest single wetland: 15 acres of freshwater forested/shrub wetland.

Vernal pools: 10 potential high-quality vernal pools covering 9 acres lie inside this ZIP (Ohio EPA screening): seasonal woodland pools that dry by summer, hold no fish, and are where salamanders and fairy shrimp breed.

High-quality wetlands: nearest is Lawrence Woods NP (Ohio DNR), 14 acres, 14.5 mi away; 0 within 10 miles.

Mitigation sites: nearest Johnny Appleseed Park District, 11.2 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 Cessna, a buttonbush swamp of 6.1 acres, 10.4 mi away: ORAM 61 of 100 (category 3), plant community index 53 of 100 (surveyed 1996); 0 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

5.2%: 1% medium (apartments, small-lot houses), 2% low (houses on larger lots), 2.8% open space (lawns, parks, golf courses, road verges)

Farmland

90%: 89% row crops, 1.2% pasture and hay

Crops 2025

of 19,188 cropped acres, 41% soybeans, 52% corn, 3% wheat and small grains (plus 2% wheat followed by soybeans, counted under soybeans), 2% hay and alfalfa, 3% vegetables, orchards, fallow and other crops; 1,657 acres of pasture and grass (USDA Cropland Data Layer)

Forest

3.1%, plus 0.7% grass and shrub

Water and wetland

0.1% open water, 0.4% wetland

Paved and roofed

1% 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

3% of the ZIP sits under tree canopy

Area

38.8 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

9.3% of adults 25+ hold a bachelor's degree or higher, 5.6% a graduate degree; 67.7% stopped at high school or earlier

Ages

32.3% under 18, 14.3% 65 or older

Race and origin

94% white, 0.2% Black, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 0% Asian, 1.4% other or two or more races

Born abroad

1.5% of residents (31 people); largest countries of birth: Mexico (28)

Veterans

4.1% of adults

Households

2.7 people per household on average; 32% of households are one person living alone, 46% married couples

Who lives here

32% of households include children, 33% someone 65 or over and 12.3% are a senior living alone; of people 15 and over, 53% are married, 26% never married, 14% divorced and 8% widowed

Poverty

22.5% of residents live below the poverty line, 30.4% of children and 19.0% of people 65 and over; the Gini index of income inequality is 0.49 (0 would mean every household earns the same, 1 that one household earns everything). County-wide, the Census Bureau's 2024 estimate is 14.3% (16.5% of children) with a median household income of $68,612 (SAIPE)

Ancestry

most often reported: German 22%, English 10%, American 8%

Movers

4.8% of residents lived somewhere else a year earlier and 0.9% abroad

Language

0.4% of households speak limited English; 8.9% speak Spanish at home

Moving

1,281 people moved into Hardin County between the returns they filed in 2022 and 2023 and 1,156 moved out (net +125, 21,627 stayed put); most arrivals came from Allen, OH (217), Logan, OH (184), Hancock, OH (163); most leavers went to Allen, OH (179), Hancock, OH (163), Logan, OH (138) (IRS)

Metro or rural

USDA rural-urban continuum code 6 of 9 for Hardin County: nonmetro - urban population of 5,000 to 20,000, adjacent to a metro area

Nonprofits

6 tax-exempt organizations registered to addresses in this ZIP; 100% are 501(c)(3) charities and 50% churches or religious groups; largest: Upper Scioto Valley Ambulance District ($886,000), Alger Community Fire Association Inc ($48,000) (IRS)

County growth

Hardin County went from 30,691 people in April 2020 to 30,072 in July 2025 (-2.0%): 1,742 births, 1,979 deaths and a net −393 from migration since 2020; in 2025 alone a net 164 left for elsewhere in the U.S. and 2 more left for abroad than arrived (Census estimates)

Since 1900

First counted in 1830 with 210 people and 8,251 by 1850, Hardin County counted 31,187 people in 1900, 28,673 in 1950, 30,813 in 1970, 31,966 in 2000 and 30,691 in 2020; it peaked at 32,719 in 1980 (4% smaller than in 1900, decennial censuses)

Commuting area: USDA classes this ZIP as rural, with no town of 2,500 within commuting reach (rural-urban commuting area code 10 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: Agriculture 111, Other services 21, Construction 15. 63% of local jobs pay over $3,333 a month, and 55% of residents' jobs do.

Businesses: 15 establishments in 2023; most common: other services (4) (ZIP Business Patterns).

Workplace safety (OSHA): 1 inspection of workplaces in this ZIP since 2020 (1 on referrals); most inspected: The Mennel Milling Company (1). No worker death investigated since 2015.

County labor market: Hardin County's unemployment rate was 3.7% in July 2026 (5.3% a year earlier), with 13,065 people in the labor force and 480 looking for work. Employers in the county paid an average of $1,054 a week in the first quarter of 2026 (up 5.7% on the year) to 7,544 workers at 558 establishments, employment down 0.4%; the largest private sectors are manufacturing (1,739 jobs, $1,229 a week), restaurants and hotels (778 jobs, $354 a week), retail (777 jobs, $555 a week). (BLS)

Working-age residents: 62.3% of people 16 and over here are in the labor force, and 1.0% of the civilian labor force was unemployed, averaged over 2020 to 2024 (Census ACS). Residents' most common occupations: sales 15%, education, legal, community service and arts 14%, management and business 13%; 6% are self-employed and 19% work for a government.

Federal money: in fiscal 2025 the federal government obligated $11 million in contracts performed in Hardin County ($366 a resident) and $16 million in grants ($523 a resident), plus $99,000 in loan guarantees and loans and $177 million in direct payments to people and organizations (USAspending; Social Security, Medicare and most benefits are not counted).

County economy: Hardin County produced $1.1 billion of real GDP in 2024 (2017 dollars, up 19.1% since 2019); personal income came to $44,662 a person in 2024, 86th of Ohio's 88 counties and up 32% since 2019 before inflation (BEA).

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

How they get there: 84.3% drive alone, 12.6% carpool, 0% transit, 1.4% walk, 0% bike, 1.7% work from home (ACS).

Where residents work: 3% inside this ZIP; 10% in Kenton (43326), 6% in Lima (45801), 6% in Ada (45810) (shares of the 756 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

Meaning

below the Ohio median: low-income children here mostly stayed in the lower half

Incarceration

2.51% of those children were in jail or prison on census day 2010

Coverage

100% of the ZIP's residents live in tracts with an estimate

The rank describes people born around 1980 who were children here in the 1980s and 1990s; neighbourhoods change, so it is a record of what the place did for one generation, not a forecast. Estimates for small tracts are noisy.

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

79th percentile: poverty, unemployment, housing cost burden, no high school diploma, no health insurance

Household characteristics

47th: people 65 and over or 17 and under, disability, single-parent households, limited English

Racial and ethnic minority status

9th

Housing and transportation

61st: 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 43.4%, no leisure-time physical activity 36.0%

Chronic conditions

diabetes 16.4%, high blood pressure 43.8%, COPD 12.4%, cancer (any but non-melanoma skin cancer) 9.6%

Habits

current smoking 21.7%, binge drinking 15.0%, short sleep 40.2%

Mind

depression 27.4%, frequent mental distress 20.3%, feeling lonely 36.1%

Access

uninsured under 65 10.3%, yearly checkup 79.0%, dental visit 52.1%

Hardship

any disability 38.1%, food insecurity 19.3%

Heart and lungs

current asthma 11.6%, coronary heart disease 9.8%, stroke 4.8%, arthritis 34.9%

Keeping up

80.3% of adults with high blood pressure take medicine for it, 82.7% had a cholesterol check in 5 years

Social needs

housing insecurity 13.3%, no reliable transportation 10.0%, utility shut-off threat 10.3%, lacking emotional support 22.0%

Provider shortage

100% live in an area HRSA designates a primary care shortage area for its low-income residents (score 15 of 25); 100% live in an area HRSA designates a dental shortage area for its low-income residents (score 15 of 26); 100% live in an area HRSA designates a mental health shortage area for its low-income residents (score 19 of 25) (HRSA; higher scores mean greater need)

Coverage (Census)

5.6% of residents have no health insurance (5.9% of children); 12% are on Medicaid and 57% have coverage through an employer

Disability (Census)

13.3% of residents report a disability, 35% of those 65 and over

County (County Health Rankings 2025): Hardin County sits in health group 6 of 10 among U.S. counties for population health (1 is healthiest) and group 6 for community conditions. Premature death 12,366 (Ohio 9,740) years of life lost before 75 per 100,000; one primary care doctor for every 3,402 people (Ohio 1,328), one mental health provider for every 1,446 people (Ohio 286), one dentist for every 6,083 people (Ohio 1,535); preventable hospital stays 3,543 (Ohio 3,033) per 100,000 Medicare enrollees; injury deaths 101.1 (Ohio 100.7) and suicides 17.4 (Ohio 14.7) per 100,000; infant deaths n/a per 1,000 births; teen births 17.0 (Ohio 17.4) per 1,000 girls 15 to 19; children in poverty 17.9 (Ohio 17.5) percent; fine-particle air pollution 7.0 (Ohio 7.8) micrograms per cubic metre; at least one community water system in the county had a health-based drinking water violation in 2023. Drug overdoses: 11 deaths in the 12 months ending January 2023 (18 a year earlier, 22 at the highest since 2020, in the 12 months ending March 2022), about 36.2 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): Hardin County records 520.2 new cancers a year per 100,000 people, age-adjusted, for 2018 to 2022 (Ohio 472.9, U.S. 448.6), about 187 cases a year, with the rate stable; cancer deaths 213.5 per 100,000 (Ohio 160.3, U.S. 145.4), stable. By site, per 100,000 (Ohio in parentheses): lung 84.1 (63.6), colorectal 51.8 (38.4), female breast 143.9 (133), prostate 89 (120.8), bladder 18.2 (21.8), leukemia 13.1 (13).

Medicare: 6,478 people in Hardin County were on Medicare in 2025 (22% of residents): 5,572 aged 65 or over and 907 younger people with disabilities. 50% chose a Medicare Advantage plan, 15% also had Medicaid and 84% had Part D drug coverage; enrollment is up 4% 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, 6 within 25.

Medicare rating: not rated · emergency room: yes

Outcomes: 30-day death rates after pneumonia 16.2% (about the national rate), July 2022 to June 2025 (Medicare).

Community health center: nearest Mustang Health Center, Harrod, 5.7 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 Lima VA Clinic, Lima (multi-specialty outpatient clinic), 15.1 mi away; 0 VA sites within 10 miles, 1 within 25.

Providers: 7 active health care providers list a practice address in this ZIP: 1 nurse practitioner or physician assistant, 1 home health or hospice agency (NPPES registry, August 2026).

Dialysis: nearest Davita Kenton Dialysis, Kenton, 13.1 mi away, 10 stations, Medicare ★☆☆☆☆ (DaVita); 0 within 5 miles, 1 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, 7 within 15.

Medicare rating

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

Beds

60 certified

Ownership

For profit, limited liability company

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

13 offenses: 2 murders, 3 rapes, 0 robberies, 8 aggravated assaults (0.8 per 1,000 residents; Ohio 3.2)

Property

18 offenses: 1 burglary, 15 thefts, 2 vehicle thefts (1.1 per 1,000; Ohio 16.9)

Other

17 simple assaults, 12 vandalism reports, 13 drug offenses, 2 weapons violations

Reporting

12 months of 2024 on file; 16,088 residents served

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, 1 within 8.

Nearest post office: Alger Post Office, 0.7 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

2 stations within 3 miles, 6 within 8.

Inside this ZIP: Alger Community Fire Association - Station 6.

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

1 library within 3 miles, 3 within 8.

Open

about 44 hours a week

Building

2,300 square feet

Alger Public Library

1 building, serves 4K people, 3.6 visits per resident a year, 10K items lent, 670 programs, $187K annual income

Inside this ZIP: Alger Public Library.

Museums: nearest Auglaize Township Historical Society, Harrod, 4.7 mi away; 2 within 5 miles, 11 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

Without a car

0% live in a tract flagged for low income and low vehicle access; 13.3% of households have no vehicle (Census ACS 2020 to 2024)

Poverty

18.7% of residents below the poverty line

SNAP stores

no supermarket or grocery store inside this ZIP take SNAP, alongside 1 convenience store; nearest supermarket or grocery store Community Markets (supermarket), 4 mi from the ZIP's center; 0 supermarkets and grocery stores within 3 miles (USDA, 2026)

SNAP households

13% of households received SNAP benefits in the past year (Census ACS 2020 to 2024)

Setting

0% of residents in urban tracts, across 2 tracts

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: Ada Pennsylvania Station and Railroad Park, Ada, 4.7 mi (certified 1998).

Place names (USGS): 4 named communities (Quickstep, Alger, Foraker, Belmont Court); 2 named streams end here (Dunlap Creek, Flat Branch); 2 canal features, 1 swamp. 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

• Upper Scioto Valley Local99% of residentsLocal school district

0 public schools inside this ZIP. Nearest to the population center: Upper Scioto Valley Middle School (2.5 stars), 2.5 mi; 0 within a mile, 3 within 3.

Enrollment: 497 residents attend kindergarten through 12th grade, 9% of them at private schools; 85 are in college or graduate school (Census ACS 2020 to 2024).

Money, fiscal 2023: Upper Scioto Valley Local took in $10.3 million, 38% from the state, 50% local and 12% federal, and spent $17,181 per pupil on day-to-day operations for 454 students, 55% of it on instruction; capital outlay $0.8 million (Census school finance survey via NCES).

Child poverty: the Census Bureau's 2024 estimate puts 13% of Upper Scioto Valley Local's school-age children below the poverty line (93 of 699 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 3 stars, gap closing 4 stars, early literacy 2 stars, graduation 3 stars, college and career readiness 4 stars

Achievement

performance index 77% of ODE's maximum score for the year (the average of the top 2% of district scores, not the highest score possible) (score 84.6, 78.7 the year before)

Graduation

87.9% of the class of 2024 graduated in four years; 75.8% of that class (graduates or not) showed college, career, workforce or military readiness

Spending

$13,759 per pupil in 2023-24 against $12,759 statewide

Teachers

average salary $57,058, 15 years of experience, 42.2% with a master's degree, 15.5% in their first years of teaching

Enrollment

398 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

Ohio Northern University is a private nonprofit college with 3,084 students over the 2023-24 year; published tuition and fees $37,800 a year; 70% of a 491-student entering class graduated (six-year bachelor).

1 institution within 10 miles, 7 within 25.

Next nearest: Ohio State University-Lima Campus (10.4 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

• Alger (village)46% of residentsVillage
• Marion Township, Hardin County44% of residentsTownship
• Lynn Township, Hardin County6% of residentsTownship
• Mcdonald Township, Hardin County2% 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
• Rob McColley ROhio Senate 1Napoleon · since 2017 · site
• Ty D. Mathews ROhio House 83Findlay · since 2024 · 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