ZIP 22042 vs ZIP 22046

This side-by-side compares ZIP 22042 (Falls Church, VA) and ZIP 22046 (Falls Church, VA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 22042 has a population of 33,537 at 1,960 people per square mile, while ZIP 22046 has 16,235 at 2,222 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 22042 reports a median household income of $138,255 against $168,882 in ZIP 22046, with per-capita income of $62,036 vs $88,978. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 53.7% in 22042 and 77.1% in 22046. Poverty rate reads 7.7% vs 3.7%, and unemployment 4.7% vs 4.5% — 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 $715,800 in 22042 versus $1,014,700 in 22046, with median rent of $2,149 and $2,215 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 67.0% vs 62.3%. 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.