ZIP 24801 vs ZIP 24878

This side-by-side compares ZIP 24801 (Welch, WV) and ZIP 24878 (Premier, WV) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 24801 has a population of 3,858 at 27 people per square mile, while ZIP 24878 has 337 at 15 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 24801 reports a median household income of $29,330 against $33,113 in ZIP 24878, with per-capita income of $12,406 vs $16,416. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 5.3% in 24801 and 0.0% in 24878. Poverty rate reads 30.2% vs 7.2%, and unemployment 0.0% 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 $57,800 in 24801 versus — in 24878, with median rent of $812 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 70.6% vs 76.9%. 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.