ZIP 22624 vs ZIP 22656

This side-by-side compares ZIP 22624 (Clear Brook, VA) and ZIP 22656 (Stephenson, VA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 22624 has a population of 2,565 at 51 people per square mile, while ZIP 22656 has 2,381 at 110 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 22624 reports a median household income of $104,375 against $107,135 in ZIP 22656, with per-capita income of $42,624 vs $54,374. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 34.0% in 22624 and 48.0% in 22656. Poverty rate reads 6.3% vs 3.9%, and unemployment 6.9% vs 1.2% — 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 $438,200 in 22624 versus $401,200 in 22656, with median rent of $1,854 and $2,340 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 89.2% vs 85.1%. 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.