ZIP 24311 vs ZIP 24368

This side-by-side compares ZIP 24311 (Atkins, VA) and ZIP 24368 (Rural Retreat, VA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 24311 has a population of 1,977 at 19 people per square mile, while ZIP 24368 has 4,953 at 23 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 24311 reports a median household income of $48,516 against $73,614 in ZIP 24368, with per-capita income of $30,058 vs $33,733. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 14.5% in 24311 and 21.8% in 24368. Poverty rate reads 8.1% vs 14.1%, and unemployment 1.3% vs 4.2% — 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 $93,100 in 24311 versus $170,100 in 24368, with median rent of $800 and $773 per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 74.0% vs 85.9%. 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.