ZIP 23027 vs ZIP 23038

This side-by-side compares ZIP 23027 (Cartersville, VA) and ZIP 23038 (Columbia, VA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 23027 has a population of 1,413 at 12 people per square mile, while ZIP 23038 has 1,775 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 23027 reports a median household income of $95,407 against $87,083 in ZIP 23038, with per-capita income of $46,551 vs $75,686. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 24.1% in 23027 and 34.8% in 23038. Poverty rate reads 1.1% vs 10.3%, and unemployment 1.1% vs 2.4% — 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 $243,200 in 23027 versus $434,400 in 23038, with median rent of — and $2,105 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 91.9% vs 95.3%. 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.