ZIP 19938 vs ZIP 19955

This side-by-side compares ZIP 19938 (Clayton, DE) and ZIP 19955 (Kenton, DE) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 19938 has a population of 8,357 at 66 people per square mile, while ZIP 19955 has 72 at 481 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 19938 reports a median household income of $99,596 against $44,634 in ZIP 19955, with per-capita income of $36,243 vs $14,421. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 24.4% in 19938 and 32.8% in 19955. Poverty rate reads 6.0% vs 3.1%, and unemployment 2.1% vs 39.4% — these four fields alone drive most of the difference in the scorecard grades you will see for each ZIP.

Housing separates these two ZIPs further: median home value sits at $381,000 in 19938 versus $225,500 in 19955, with median rent of $1,582 and $1,452 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 91.8% vs 75.5%. 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.