ZIP 22538 vs ZIP 22427

This side-by-side compares ZIP 22538 (Rappahannock Academy, VA) and ZIP 22427 (Bowling Green, VA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 22538 has a population of 307 at 9 people per square mile, while ZIP 22427 has 3,286 at 8 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 22538 reports a median household income of — against $81,488 in ZIP 22427, with per-capita income of $37,645 vs $34,642. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 20.4% in 22538 and 20.7% in 22427. Poverty rate reads 5.7% vs 12.1%, and unemployment 16.0% vs 2.9% — 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 $326,600 in 22538 versus $315,700 in 22427, with median rent of — and $978 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 100.0% vs 59.8%. 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.