ZIP 19970 vs ZIP 19930

This side-by-side compares ZIP 19970 (Ocean View, DE) and ZIP 19930 (Bethany Beach, DE) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 19970 has a population of 6,170 at 246 people per square mile, while ZIP 19930 has 2,768 at 189 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 19970 reports a median household income of $94,103 against $125,491 in ZIP 19930, with per-capita income of $54,573 vs $101,262. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 48.4% in 19970 and 72.3% in 19930. Poverty rate reads 12.6% vs 2.5%, and unemployment 1.4% vs 4.6% — 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 $526,600 in 19970 versus $887,400 in 19930, with median rent of $1,512 and $1,375 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 91.3% vs 97.8%. 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.