ZIP 22642 vs ZIP 22643

This side-by-side compares ZIP 22642 (Linden, VA) and ZIP 22643 (Markham, VA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 22642 has a population of 4,414 at 33 people per square mile, while ZIP 22643 has 197 at 13 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 22642 reports a median household income of $114,282 against — in ZIP 22643, with per-capita income of $49,365 vs $40,256. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 31.3% in 22642 and 24.3% in 22643. Poverty rate reads 5.8% vs 13.1%, and unemployment 4.2% vs 0.0% — 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 $361,700 in 22642 versus — in 22643, with median rent of $1,683 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 90.1% vs 73.2%. 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.