ZIP 23324 vs ZIP 23523

This side-by-side compares ZIP 23324 (Chesapeake, VA) and ZIP 23523 (Norfolk, VA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 23324 has a population of 22,851 at 1,322 people per square mile, while ZIP 23523 has 7,793 at 1,439 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 23324 reports a median household income of $57,045 against $35,533 in ZIP 23523, with per-capita income of $28,256 vs $22,230. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 21.4% in 23324 and 12.5% in 23523. Poverty rate reads 25.0% vs 39.1%, and unemployment 6.8% vs 4.3% — 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 $251,800 in 23324 versus $224,600 in 23523, with median rent of $1,158 and $937 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 52.6% vs 33.6%. 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.