ZIP 24857 vs ZIP 24860

This side-by-side compares ZIP 24857 (Lynco, WV) and ZIP 24860 (Matheny, WV) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 24857 has a population of 984 at 46 people per square mile, while ZIP 24860 has 552 at 36 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 24857 reports a median household income of $41,011 against — in ZIP 24860, with per-capita income of $28,369 vs $30,977. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 0.0% in 24857 and 11.2% in 24860. Poverty rate reads 22.1% vs 16.4%, 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 $82,000 in 24857 versus $160,100 in 24860, with median rent of — and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 89.6% vs 82.1%. 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.