ZIP 19802 vs ZIP 19809

This side-by-side compares ZIP 19802 (Wilmington, DE) and ZIP 19809 (Wilmington, DE) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 19802 has a population of 24,621 at 2,997 people per square mile, while ZIP 19809 has 14,049 at 775 per square mile. That difference in population size and density alone reshapes how every other metric should be interpreted — a higher-income ZIP with 1,200 residents behaves very differently from one with 45,000.

On income and education, ZIP 19802 reports a median household income of $53,812 against $81,288 in ZIP 19809, with per-capita income of $32,690 vs $44,461. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 26.6% in 19802 and 43.4% in 19809. Poverty rate reads 22.0% vs 12.2%, and unemployment 8.9% vs 3.7% — these four fields alone drive most of the difference in the scorecard grades you will see for each ZIP.

Housing separates these two ZIPs further: median home value sits at $194,600 in 19802 versus $314,900 in 19809, with median rent of $1,227 and $1,495 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 48.5% vs 74.1%. When reading the comparison table below, focus on paired metrics rather than single winners — a ZIP with lower home values and lower income is not strictly "worse" if rent-to-income ratios and commute times land in the same zone. Every value is pulled from the exact same ACS table so the two columns are genuinely comparable.