ZIP 24445 vs ZIP 24412

This side-by-side compares ZIP 24445 (Hot Springs, VA) and ZIP 24412 (Bacova, VA) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 24445 has a population of 2,673 at 10 people per square mile, while ZIP 24412 has 131 at 19 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 24445 reports a median household income of $51,500 against $250,001 in ZIP 24412, with per-capita income of $30,045 vs $119,486. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 10.9% in 24445 and 59.2% in 24412. Poverty rate reads 30.6% vs 0.0%, and unemployment 1.5% 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 $163,700 in 24445 versus $224,000 in 24412, with median rent of $855 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 69.7% vs 100.0%. 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.