ZIP 23703 vs ZIP 23508

This side-by-side compares ZIP 23703 (Portsmouth, VA) and ZIP 23508 (Norfolk, VA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 23703 has a population of 25,739 at 712 people per square mile, while ZIP 23508 has 20,263 at 2,348 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 23703 reports a median household income of $78,707 against $74,885 in ZIP 23508, with per-capita income of $40,712 vs $41,168. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 32.4% in 23703 and 58.7% in 23508. Poverty rate reads 9.5% vs 15.7%, and unemployment 4.2% vs 4.7% — 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 $295,900 in 23703 versus $408,100 in 23508, with median rent of $1,432 and $1,464 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 69.9% vs 51.9%. 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.