ZIP 23111 vs ZIP 23116

This side-by-side compares ZIP 23111 (Mechanicsville, VA) and ZIP 23116 (Mechanicsville, VA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 23111 has a population of 36,490 at 181 people per square mile, while ZIP 23116 has 27,228 at 167 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 23111 reports a median household income of $98,969 against $141,711 in ZIP 23116, with per-capita income of $50,643 vs $59,857. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 33.1% in 23111 and 53.8% in 23116. Poverty rate reads 5.1% vs 3.4%, and unemployment 2.6% vs 2.7% — 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 $348,200 in 23111 versus $433,900 in 23116, with median rent of $1,643 and $1,962 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 76.6% vs 90.8%. 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.