ZIP 23847 vs ZIP 23879

This side-by-side compares ZIP 23847 (Emporia, VA) and ZIP 23879 (Skippers, VA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 23847 has a population of 16,962 at 23 people per square mile, while ZIP 23879 has 679 at 8 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 23847 reports a median household income of $51,168 against $51,250 in ZIP 23879, with per-capita income of $27,650 vs $29,051. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 16.2% in 23847 and 27.9% in 23879. Poverty rate reads 13.4% vs 16.3%, and unemployment 4.2% 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 $139,300 in 23847 versus $217,600 in 23879, with median rent of $992 and $1,099 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 53.3% vs 79.1%. 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.