ZIP 23704 vs ZIP 23709

This side-by-side compares ZIP 23704 (Portsmouth, VA) and ZIP 23709 (Portsmouth, VA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 23704 has a population of 18,716 at 1,420 people per square mile, while ZIP 23709 has 78 at 198 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 23704 reports a median household income of $49,583 against — in ZIP 23709, with per-capita income of $33,101 vs $30,783. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 24.9% in 23704 and 18.9% in 23709. Poverty rate reads 23.6% vs —, and unemployment 8.0% vs 0.0% — 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 $230,300 in 23704 versus — in 23709, with median rent of $1,310 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 40.2% vs —. 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.