ZIP 22834 vs ZIP 22802

This side-by-side compares ZIP 22834 (Linville, VA) and ZIP 22802 (Harrisonburg, VA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 22834 has a population of 1,250 at 27 people per square mile, while ZIP 22802 has 26,293 at 112 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 22834 reports a median household income of $99,926 against $66,423 in ZIP 22802, with per-capita income of $47,194 vs $33,379. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 38.3% in 22834 and 30.7% in 22802. Poverty rate reads 0.9% vs 15.9%, and unemployment 0.0% vs 4.2% — 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 $378,900 in 22834 versus $280,700 in 22802, with median rent of — and $1,186 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 83.0% vs 55.0%. 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.