ZIP 24868 vs ZIP 24831

This side-by-side compares ZIP 24868 (Northfork, WV) and ZIP 24831 (Elkhorn, WV) using the same Census ACS 5-Year table fields for both — no averages swapped in, no national proxies. ZIP 24868 has a population of 1,686 at 16 people per square mile, while ZIP 24831 has 250 at 55 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 24868 reports a median household income of $30,259 against $57,652 in ZIP 24831, with per-capita income of $17,851 vs $15,727. The share of adults holding a bachelor's degree or higher is 21.1% in 24868 and 10.8% in 24831. Poverty rate reads 55.6% vs 24.2%, 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 $40,500 in 24868 versus — in 24831, with median rent of $677 and — per month respectively. Homeownership rate is 92.5% 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.