ZIP 23868 vs ZIP 23843

This side-by-side compares ZIP 23868 (Lawrenceville, VA) and ZIP 23843 (Dolphin, VA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 23868 has a population of 7,367 at 24 people per square mile, while ZIP 23843 has 654 at 9 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 23868 reports a median household income of $45,458 against $70,481 in ZIP 23843, with per-capita income of $21,413 vs $34,496. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 13.3% in 23868 and 5.0% in 23843. Poverty rate reads 24.6% vs 12.3%, and unemployment 2.9% 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 $133,200 in 23868 versus $121,400 in 23843, with median rent of $839 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 59.2% vs 89.6%. 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.