ZIP 23805 vs ZIP 23830

This side-by-side compares ZIP 23805 (Petersburg, VA) and ZIP 23830 (Carson, VA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 23805 has a population of 19,490 at 103 people per square mile, while ZIP 23830 has 1,491 at 12 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 23805 reports a median household income of $60,807 against $118,030 in ZIP 23830, with per-capita income of $33,246 vs $55,397. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 21.7% in 23805 and 30.9% in 23830. Poverty rate reads 9.2% vs 2.9%, and unemployment 5.1% vs 3.8% — 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 $233,400 in 23805 versus $330,800 in 23830, with median rent of $1,209 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 58.9% vs 92.0%. 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.