ZIP 22726 vs ZIP 22718

This side-by-side compares ZIP 22726 (Lignum, VA) and ZIP 22718 (Elkwood, VA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 22726 has a population of 776 at 19 people per square mile, while ZIP 22718 has 534 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 22726 reports a median household income of $80,703 against $83,438 in ZIP 22718, with per-capita income of $37,643 vs $35,920. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 13.7% in 22726 and 18.0% in 22718. Poverty rate reads 1.3% vs 13.2%, and unemployment 0.0% 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 $319,400 in 22726 versus $390,300 in 22718, with median rent of — and $2,083 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 83.3% vs 69.7%. 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.