ZIP 23140 vs ZIP 23030

This side-by-side compares ZIP 23140 (Providence Forge, VA) and ZIP 23030 (Charles City, VA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 23140 has a population of 5,175 at 27 people per square mile, while ZIP 23030 has 5,128 at 13 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 23140 reports a median household income of $97,500 against $81,250 in ZIP 23030, with per-capita income of $47,370 vs $44,356. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 35.9% in 23140 and 17.4% in 23030. Poverty rate reads 7.5% vs 9.0%, and unemployment 2.9% vs 3.4% — 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 $336,600 in 23140 versus $253,700 in 23030, with median rent of $1,492 and $1,073 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 90.1% vs 85.4%. 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.