ZIP 22655 vs ZIP 22645

This side-by-side compares ZIP 22655 (Stephens City, VA) and ZIP 22645 (Middletown, VA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 22655 has a population of 19,328 at 212 people per square mile, while ZIP 22645 has 3,880 at 42 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 22655 reports a median household income of $109,169 against $90,875 in ZIP 22645, with per-capita income of $45,211 vs $47,432. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 31.2% in 22655 and 30.3% in 22645. Poverty rate reads 5.5% vs 7.5%, and unemployment 6.6% vs 1.1% — 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 $388,400 in 22655 versus $419,900 in 22645, with median rent of $1,530 and $1,019 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 78.0% vs 80.4%. 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.