ZIP 22637 vs ZIP 26817

This side-by-side compares ZIP 22637 (Gore, VA) and ZIP 26817 (Bloomery, WV) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 22637 has a population of 1,970 at 17 people per square mile, while ZIP 26817 has 443 at 9 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 22637 reports a median household income of $81,132 against $68,750 in ZIP 26817, with per-capita income of $45,799 vs $19,264. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 27.7% in 22637 and 0.0% in 26817. Poverty rate reads 13.2% vs 37.6%, and unemployment 4.2% vs 16.6% — 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 $366,200 in 22637 versus $292,500 in 26817, with median rent of $1,147 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 65.8% vs 100.0%. 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.